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If you live in the United States of America, own a television or have an Internet connection, and you speak with more than two people each day, then you don't have any excuse to not know what I'm talking about. There's absolutely no way you couldn't have known that Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought last night. It doesn't matter if you don't like boxing, either... the fight has been talked about on every major news station, it's on every website with a "headlines" section, and just about everyone has been talking about it. In the offset chance you're holding out to see the fight when it airs next week, I won't say who won until the last paragraph of this post, with a huge spoiler warning. But if you're trying to avoid learning who won last night's battle, then you shouldn't watch television all week. You can't go to MSN, Yahoo, CNN, or any other website that tells news. And you should probably avoid talking to anyone who doesn't know you're holding out.

Last night's fight was billed as the boxing match that would save boxing. The sport itself is under the gun right now because of a lack of noteworthy heroes. People are tuning in to "mixed martial arts" like UFC instead because they need people to root for. Really, there are only two real boxing superstars today: Oscar De La Hoya, a living legend and one of the most recognizable (and highest paid) athletes in all of sports, and Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose ferocious in-ring speed and talent blends with his out-of-ring personality and attitude. People love to hate Floyd Mayweather, and Mayweather loves to be hated, and that instantly makes him PPV-worthy. So when you blend those two forces of nature and make them fight each other, you get last night's spectacle (which sold for $54.99 USD on Pay-Per-View, where I live anyway).

So do you guys think the fight could have saved boxing? Do you think it may have drawn back some lost fans, and do you think the massive media coverage of the fight could have given the sport a few more years to come up with a modern batch of heroes? Or do you think boxing is beyond repair and people are too turned on by the far-less tactical and absolutely talentless (in comparison) UFC because they don't really need to think while watching it?

But if boxing is indeed dead, at least it went out with a bang... this could easily be called the most historic boxing match since Sugar Ray Leonard fought Tommy "The Hitman" Hearns back in the early 1980's. It's a rare occurence when the fight lives up to the hype surrounding it. Last night, we saw just that.

And The Winner is [SPOILER ALERT!!!]
If you don't want to know who won the fight, divert your eyes! I thought the fight was a great one... yes, we paid $54.99 to watch last night's bout, and I honestly think it was worth it. The fight went the distance, all 12 rounds, and I personally scored seven rounds for Oscar De La Hoya and five for Floyd Mayweather Jr. In fact, everyone I've talked to so far today has said that they thought Oscar should have won the fight, but the judges thought differently, and in the end, they're the only people who matter. Floyd Mayweather Jr. won by split decision (if you're not really sure what a split decision is, it means two judges thought Floyd won, but one judge thought Oscar won). The fight definitely lived up to the hype... Oscar would come at Floyd with a harsh flurry of fast-paced punches, and Floyd returned most of those with quick-paced jabfests of his own. I would easily pay fifty bucks to see a sequel, and trilogies are commonplace in the boxing world, but with both fighters considering retirement, it might never happen . And if they both retire, I'm afraid boxing might never recouperate from the dual losses of the sport's biggest stars.

I don't follow boxing, and I had no idea this "fight" was going on. So, I guess I do have an excuse

How could you not know this fight wasn't happening? It's been like the biggest sports event all month! I didn't see it however, I dont like boxing enough to pay that kind of money. And considering the popularity of the fight and the fact it was also cinco de mayo, i didn't bother even trying to get into any bars. Last time it was just so crowded I ended up standing for 3 hours and never got my basket of chicken wings. That was during the Liddell vs. Ortiz fight, which I love UFC a lot more than boxing.

Really, I can't see how you could have possibly not heard about it, it's been everywhere. Unless you haven't turned a TV on, or gone on the internet, or talked to anyone you aren't close to, and even then you should have heard at least a murmur hehe.

I didn't hear about it either.

I'm so happy the Floyd won. Even though alot of the people I konw wanted de la hoya to win. look at my location. This dude's cool.

I dunno, I'm an Oscar fan, always have been. But I've been watching Floyd's career for a few years now because he's easily one of the best fighters I've seen in a very, very long time. I'll be extremely angry if they don't have a rematch lol, nothing is worse than leaving it like this, with a split decision. But I guess it's Oscar's own fault for not taking the KO when he had the chance. See, he was too worried about what the fans would think if they paid $54 to see a fight that only lasted 7 rounds, but whatever, he had the opportunity, he should have taken it imo . But regardless, it was a truly awesome fight I think.

I thought Oscar should have won the fight, but I guess my eyes were playing tricks on me. After seeing the true stats of punches thrown/landed and power punches, Mayweather had landed alot more than I thought. However, I think if Oscar had not pressed the fight Mayweather would have been content to stand in the corner and count the seconds to payday, he made little effort to engage or take charge of the ring.

As for saving boxing, we need to face the fact that heavyweights are what people want, at least the layman. I prefer middleweight fights, but they will never capture the crowd like the big boys.

I didn't see the match, and only heard about it a little in the lead up. I've never quite understood the hype surrounding boxing matches. That was at least till I saw Anthony Mundine v Danny Green. That was billed ad the biggest fight in Australian boxing history, and was certainly fun to watch, mostly cause Mundine acted for the crowd and really made a spectacle of it.

UFC is a good thing I think. I like seeing raw fighting in a lot of styles. It's always fun to see the Royce Gracie v Shamrock one again

Greenlig

I've never heard of it. I do live in the UK, though. If you ask me, boxing is just an excuse to punch each other's brains out.

Who needs an excuse?

nah, Ricky Hatton! bring on the HITMAN

My sentiments exactly. Everyone in my house thought Oscar won, and when Michael Buffer started announcing the scorecards I was sure the split would go in Oscar's favor. To me, it looked like he had Mayweather on the ropes and avoiding flurries several times in most of the rounds. When I was scoring the fight, I had Oscar winning all but five rounds, and others had him losing around four or five rounds max... a pretty shocking result I think. I'm definitely paying for a re-match if they don't end up retiring . But this was definitely the most difficult fight of Mayweather's career. I can see why he'd want to retire, he wants to save his perfect record, hehe. One more fight against Oscar De La Hoya and he could very easily end up with a loss.


To me anyway, what puts boxing on a pedestal above UFC and the like is that boxing isn't all about straight-up violence. To the typical layman fan who only watches the big matches, or watches them because their friends/ family are watching them, it just looks like two guys beating the crap out of each other. But there's a lot more to it than that. It's a highly technical and strategic sport, and each match takes careful planning and rigorous training to prepare for.

Why do some matches get hugely popular (like this one)? That's pretty simple: some fighters can max out the potential of other fighters. All "big name" boxers have certain qualities that make people love them. For this fight, we saw an example of two different types of fighters that people love. The first type are the people who show off and talk trash but back it up with high levels of skill. Roy Jones Jr. had unmatched speed and always gave a fantastic in-ring performance with his taunting and showboating, leading him to the systematic dismantling of opponents like Bernard Hopkins (Jones was the only person to beat him for a really, really long time) and James Toney. Muhammed Ali had speed, grace, and a technical mastering of the ring... and of course, he also had a showboating flair and out-of-ring fame for him anti-government discussions and all that. Sugar Ray Leonard is another famous example of a boxer with personality, speed, power, and grace.

You could easily compare Floyd Mayweather Jr. to these guys. He has what some would say are the fastest hands in the world, often throwing and landing five- to eight- punch combinations with surgical precision and dangerous power. He has that flair that people love (and sometimes love to hate), usually desecrating his opponents with a salvo of insults and an in-ring performance of showboating that belongs in the highest echelons of that talent. For instance, during some of his fights he leans out of the ring and starts having a conversation with the ringside announcers while his opponent is trying to hit him, in a show of his invincibility. And outside the ring, he isn't what you might call an ambassador to the sport. He hangs out with rapper 50-cent, shows off his money as often as possible (he once lost $10,000 cash and offered a $1000 reward for it to be returned), and spends as much time as possible ripping on his opponents and detractors. There really isn't any middle ground with Floyd Mayweather... you either love him or love to hate him. Either way, he can easily get people to tune in for his fights.

Then you have the fighters who act more as ambassadors to the sport of boxing, people who are respectful to their fans and to their sport and don't find it necessary to brag about their talent to draw a fan base. The "good guys" of boxing, if you will. Guys like Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, and in more modern times, Lennox Lewis or Evander Holyfield.

Oscar De La Hoya is definitely a fighter you could call a "good guy." He never badmouths his opponents in the hopes of sparking controversy. Out of the ring he funds and hosts a number of charities, including a school for under-priviledged kids and a cancer hospital in Los Angeles. But on the flip-side of that, Oscar can be an absolutely devastating fighter. He almost beat the legendary Felix "Tito" Trinidad, only losing the fight because he cruised for a few rounds with the belief that he'd already won the fight. He completely destroyed opponents like Mayorga and Vargas without any hint of mercy. He's fast, powerful, and unflinching, and can definitely take a punch (he's only ever been knocked out once, after opponent Bernard Hopkins landed a nasty body shot that probably no one could have withstood).

That's why this fight was so big, and could very easily be called legendary. It was a fight of good versus evil, and the two opponents were PERFECT for each other (as was proven by the split decision at the end of the fight). These fights often get hyped because the opponents are well-matched and produce fights that people will end up talking about for years and decades to come. Heck, they have my $55, and I'm glad they do hehe.

Sorry for the massive text book on boxing hype, lol.