Caught The Replay - Very Solid Fight

Posted by Tim

As I mentioned previously, there was a problem with my cable provider the night of De Lahoya Mayweather. I’ve had to rely on the words of others until tonight, when I was able to catch the replay for myself.

First thing’s first: The folks who said this fight was a disappointment have probably never stood in a ring with a man who is trying to hurt them.

I was very pleased with the action, despite the fact that I wanted Oscar to win. I saw good stuff from both players, and this fight was definitely close but there’s no question in my mind that Floyd pulled away with a fair win (this still seems to be a matter of controversy in the minds of some fans).

Throughout the fight Floyd was more relaxed and the crisper puncher. And he was in vintage form; landing singles and moving with few combos.

But I have to disagree strongly with some of the punch stats. I saw Oscar pick off a lot of Mayweather’s punches, especially in rounds 8 and 9 where the stats give Floyd a high accuracy. Oscar blocked a good 80% of what Floyd threw in those rounds.

But it was clear enough in rounds 10 and 11 that Floyd was on his game and landing plenty of solid punches against a tired opponent. In my mind these two rounds solidified the W for Pretty Boy.

Through the first half of the fight Oscar was the more aggressive man, and the rounds he won were a direct result of this. He rarely connected flush, but he was very smart with his flurries and let his hands fly in the last 10 seconds of several rounds in a successful effort to steal the tally.

I really don’t believe Floyd won this fight because he was the younger, quicker man. Had Oscar been able to lose some of his tension and (most importantly) had he used his jab I think he had a real chance of keeping the belt and doing what 37 boxers before him had tried.

It’s a shame really when a fighter just can’t get the confidence to fire a jab in a fight where it could make all the difference. But again, I don’t judge Oscar too harshly because it’s one thing to make this observation, and quite another thing to stand in front of a skilled puncher and do what needs to be done.

De Lahoya’s fatigue was glaring in the last three rounds. He totally gave up his height advantage and tried to punch from a crouching position, which left him wide open for Mayweather’s quick, accurate hands.

Overall this was a good fight, and worth the money charged for PPV. There’s no controversy surrounding the decision as far as I’m concerned, and both boxers gave a hell of a showing. 

Would I watch a rematch? Damn right!

Do I think one is “necessary”? No.

But I’d be happy to pay the $60 to see these two guys get in the ring again.

i was more wrong about oscar than floyd

Posted by dave mannina

The jeopardy and risk i expected from the golden boy was not to be.  I’ll be wrong again most definitely.  I don’t see a need for a rematch unless floyd sr. gets involved.  This one might be oscar’s toughest to swallow.

An Unbelievable Saturday…

Posted by Tim

I missed it. Because of a server outage somewhere in my region I was unable to pick up the biggest fight of 2007, as was every friend and vague acquiantance I frantically contacted in an effort to land a last minute cushion for this event.

From what I’ve seen on a few discussion boards many Comcast subscribers in various regions had the same problem. Even the nearest sports bar had to refund the door because of the outage.

So here I am, left with only the commentary of others and no way of judging for myself if the decision in Mayweather’s favor is a controversy or not.

Damn…

Unless I find a video on the web somewhere it looks like I’ll have to catch the replay this Saturday on HBO.

Either way I’m shocked by what I’ve heard so far. I really believed Oscar would take this one by way of knockout.

I’ll post my comments here as soon as I get a chance to view the bout, but I do have a strong feeling this weekend’s event was only part one of a probable trilogy.

Other Cool Sites