Boxing - Oscar De La Hoya v Floyd Mayweather Jr May 5 2007

De La Hoya - Mayweather

Recap of the Fight
Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Oscar De La Hoya
MGM Grand. Las Vegas, Nevada
May 5, 2007. HBO PPV.
(published May 6, 2007)

Pre-Fight: Floyd Mayweather, Jr enters the ring first, wearing a big white sombrero and green, white, and red trunks in a partial taunt of Oscar de la Hoya's Mexican heritage and a partial nod to the day at hand, Cinco de Mayo. But Floyd walked to the ring on a mission. He wasn't looking for any attention. De La Hoya enters next to Mexican music. The crowd erupts indicating a heavy skew in favor of the older De La Hoya.

Quick Snapshot:
Round 1: Mayweather, narrowly
Round 2: De La Hoya, narrowly
Round 3: De La Hoya, narrowly
Round 4: De La Hoya, narrowly
Round 5: Mayweather, clearly
Round 6: De La Hoya, narrowly
Round 7: Mayweather, narrowly
Round 8: De La Hoya
Round 9: Mayweather, narrowly
Round 10: Mayweather, clearly
Round 11: Mayweather, narrowly
Round 12: De La Hoya, narrowly
Final Tally:: Oscar De La Hoya: 6 rounds; Floyd Mayweather Jr: 6 rounds

Analysis: Since its a tie we will take it one step further by giving +1 for "narrowly", +2 for winning the round, and +3 for "clearly". By this tally, its Mayweather 10 and De La Hoya 7. All in all, we aren't completely suprised to see the fight a) end up with Mayweather as the winner, and b) have one judge that scores it a win for De La Hoya. Any of the narrowly rounds could have gone either way. It was a great fight. But there's also no room for controversy. Mayweather won. The fight demonstrated that Mayweather can't take Oscar lightly, but it also showed what a great fighter Mayweather is. He proved he is more than just a fast fighter. He's calculating, tactical, and adapts well.

Official Scorecards
· Judge Chuck Giampa: Mayweather 116-112.
· Judge Jerry Roth: Mayweather 115-113.
· Judge Tom Kaczmarek: De La Hoya 115-113.

FightNews

Round-by-round Recap

Round 1: Floyd establishes himself by going in fro quick jabs and then stepping away. De La Hoya employees a strategy of sitting back and picking his moments, then unleashing a quick flurry of punches. De La Hoya is aiming low and trying to inflict damage to the ribs. Overall, both boxers are just getting comfortable with each other. And the impression is that this will be a serious fight. De La Hoya is definitely not overmatched, contrary to expectations.
Winner: Mayweather, narrowly.

Round 2: The crowd is heavily in favor of Oscar. And he is throwing a lot more punches than Mayweather-- using the flurry tactic. The loud crowd on Oscar's flurries gives the impression that he is connecting a lot, but its all just impressions. Overall, though, Oscar was the more active boxer in Round 2.
Winner: De La Hoya narrowly. It's a close fight.

Round 3: Oscar is strong early with a flurry of punches, sending Mayweather back on defense and near the ropes and corner. Then the round settled back down with little action. Floyd establishing a little more control with the occasional punch and pull back.
Winner: De La Hoya narrowly.

Round 4: Floyd comes out much more relaxed than Oscar. De La Hoya's flurries are starting to seem like an aggressive move seeking an early knockout blow (since everyone thinks Oscar will tire out if the fight goes the distance). De La Hoya's trying to inflict damage early on, but Mayweather not really affected. Still, more action from De La Hoya in this round.
Winner: De La Hoya narrowly.

Round 5: The announcers have been steadfast throughout the fight that Mayweather is in control. And the announcers are expressing the concern that all of De La Hoya's flurries will catch up with him later-- as he will tire in the later rounds. Mayweather is much more tactical in Round 5, picking his spots and connecting.
Winner: Mayweather clearly.

Round 6: De La Hoya takes back the momentum connecting a few times and maintains control of the round. Mayweather makes a bit of a comeback near the end of the round.
Winner: De La Hoya narrowly.

Round 7: Oscar flurries early in the round, actually sending Floyd back a bit. But Mayweather establishes control through the middle of the round. Oscar flurries late. Both boxers looking in fine shape after 7 rounds. Neither has really inflicted any damage.
Winner: Mayweather narrowly.

Round 8: De La Hoya connects early and flurries. Mayweather is on the defensive. But both boxers take a step back and catch their breath for most of the round. Then Oscar flurries at the end. Announcers saying Oscar has pulled back about even after being down (in their view) early in the match. The boxing statistics, at this point, back the view that Mayweather was in control early and throughout. Oscar is throwing a lot more punches. But Mayweather has just been more methodical and tactical. And it is Mayweather that is landing more punches despite the lower punch count.
Winner: De La Hoya.

Round 9: Mayweather is back to being more active and tactical. Connecting throughout the first half of the round in a methodical way-- punch and away, punch and away. Oscar gets a flurry of punches in at one point, with Mayweather back in a corner, and the crowd goes crazy. But Floyd comes out with a smile as if to say 'crowd is just backing Oscar, but the punches aren't really doing anything'.
Winner: Mayweather narrowly.

Round 10: Oscar comes out looking to get another flurry going but Mayweather has wised up a little. Its a quiet round, as Oscar can't get any punches in. And Mayweather's style doesn't inspire any reactions from the crowd. Floyd is relaxed and methodical-- clearly connecting more. And then, right at the bell, Mayweather connects big. Replay shows Oscar gettting brushed back.
Winner: Mayweather clearly.

Round 11: Mayweather in control. Oscar keeps looking for an opening and making few punches. Floyd is light on his feet and after establishing himself early, he starts hanging back and kind of running away-- avoiding the possibility of a big punch from De La Hoya. Oscar kind of takes back control of the round as Mayweather starts coasting. Oscar connects late.
Winner: Mayweather narrowly.

Round 12: Oscar goes out swinging a lot in the 12th. Mayweather not really affected-- and, he's hitting back just as much. But Oscar shows much more activity in the round and also gives the crowd something to cheer about-- especially as the fight ends with both boxers flailing lots of punches.
Winner: De La Hoya narrowly.

Post fight: Announcers clearly side with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. mostly based on the statistics. Oscar plays to the crowd.

First, thank you for visiting our Mayweather De La Hoya Round-by-Round Recap. Other round-by-round recaps and scorecards from: ESPN, CNNSI (includes minute-by-minute, and reader comments), FOX Sports, SportsLine, AOL Sports, Doghouse Boxing, NBC Sports.

* Consensus pick = according to 10 different inputs (including official scorecards, Fanbay.net, and the links above such as ESPN and CNNSI scoring). ^ = out of 10 different scorecards this is the split of picks each round (so Mayweather was picked by 9 out of 10 in Round 1 and De La Hoya was picked by all 10 in Round 2. In total, Mayweather was picked as the winner of a round 74 times to De La Hoya 46).

Cinco de Mayweather
Floyd Wins Solid; Though Fight Goes Distance
Split Decision Earns De La Hoya Respect
Mayweather Says He Will Retire On Top

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De La Hoya v Mayweather
2 Undercard Fights then Floyd vs Oscar at about 11 ET
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Preview:

First, visit our Mayweather De La Hoya Round-by-Round Recap. Other round-by-round recaps and scorecards from: ESPN, CNNSI (includes minute-by-minute, and reader comments), FOX Sports, SportsLine, AOL Sports, Doghouse Boxing, NBC Sports.
De La Hoya v Mayweather
2 Undercard Fights then Floyd vs Oscar at about 11 ET
The Stars Come Out: Peyton, MJ, J-Lo, Tiger...
Coverage · LeBron James Picks Mayweather

The biggest boxing match in a long time is May 5, 2007: Oscar de la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather (official PPV page here at HBO, including full coverage of the fight; bios, records, etc). The tale of the tape for the Junior Middleweight Championship here. Vegas odds here, here, and round-by-round best view here. Tradesports prices here.

· Floyd Mayweather Jr: Official and boxing history here
· Oscar de la Hoya: Golden Boy Promotions here
and fight history here.

The pick (as of 5/4/07): This fight is age against raw talent. Mayweather will be much quicker and much smoother. However, this is his first big-time bout in the spotlight. With the bright lights shinging, will he actually get nervous about the prospect of his first loss? For Oscar de la Hoya big showbiz is old school. We think de la Hoya's chances are best in the early rounds. In this 12 round bout we think he tires and Mayweather takes over. But that could be wishful thinking for the Golden Boy because he hasn't been fighting in recent years and its possible he could be quickly dazed, confused, and beat-up bad by the younger, faster, and more active (of late) Pretty Boy. So most scenarios lean Mayweather. It would be a big upset win for Oscar to pull off, and it would be a nice cap for his successful career. However... Bottom line: Mayweather KO in 7.

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