Articles

Wait…Did Oscar Just Call Mosley A “Heavy Bag?”

Published

10 years ago

January 17, 2011

Oscar De La Hoya has proven himself to be a pretty potent Twitter Hitter of late. The Golden Boy is one to follow, because he’ll let loose some reasonably spicy stuff, mixed in with dieting advice (cut the carbs!) and observations on football, his missus, and other random musings. This weekend, he told his followers that he likes Mayweather over Pacman if and when they ever glove up.

“There is no doubt in my mind Mayweather beats Paquiao,” he wrote. “Styles make fights.”

Now, one might expect Oscar to lean towards Money, being that Mayweather has of late been working with Golden Boy for his promotions, while he heads his own flagship promotional entity. But seeing as how ODLH did tangle with Mayweather and Pacman, we’d be fools to totally dismiss his scouting report because of his perceived biases. Oscar gave Mayweather a good go of it, and lost a SD12 when they battled in May 2007. He had less success against Pacquiao; Pacman whacked him around the ring and Oscar’s corner pulled the plug after eight rounds in their December 2008 scrap, his last to date, and maybe forever.

So, Oscar the social media maven, was asked, why do you think Floyd has the edge?

“It's called style,” he said. “Mayweather will be patient to wait for Manny to make the mistakes. You see Manny is fast but Mayweather’s timing is key.

“I respect Manny and he is great for our sport but Mayweathers’ style will beat anyone if you don't have a stiff hard fast jab.”

Oscar did throw an unexpected combo when he went out of his way to call Pacquiao the top pound for pounder today. “Pacman is the man and he does deserve to be the best fighter on the planet today,” De La Hoya said.

However, all that talk is immaterial if the two best fighters in the game don’t drop the BS, the excuses, the conditions, the lengthy hiatuses, and sign on to see who’s the top dog. De La Hoya said he shares the fans’ dismay that this bout hasn’t been made. “Believe me I'm also frustrated because I feel with Golden Boy promoting it each fighter can make huge money and it will be great fight,” he said. “I believe they both want to fight each other I feel that right now Pac is being squeezed and people are making money off him but once there are no more heavy bags there will be no choice but to make the fight happen. It's a shame because Manny wants it and Floyd wants it. That’s my inside opinion.”

Whoa whoa whoa hold the line. That “heavy bags” reference…that may be open to interpretation, but was he not making reference to foes of Pacquiao’s other than Mayweather? And who is the next guy slated to fight Pacman? You guessed it, ex Golden Boy partner Shane Mosley. TSS Universe, did I read that wrong, or did Oscar dismiss Shane as a “heavy bag?” If I read that correctly, did Mosley miss that, or did he see it, and is just taking the high road?

Golly, you gotta love this Twitter. Gatekeepers are rendered null, which I love, because many gatekeepers (most gatekeepers?) are frustrated folks who get off on the power to say no, to keep you away from their guy. Less gatekeepers means more people speaking (texting) from the gut, and that’s a good thing.

Feel free to follow Oscar at @OscarDeLaHoya, and for that matter, me, at @Woodsy1069.

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Michael Woods

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

5 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

5 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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