Pernell Whitaker got robbed in the decision against Oscar de la Hoya back in April of '97. Felix Sturm was mugged by the judges against Oscar a few years later. Every other pure boxer who has faced Oscar in the past ten  years has beaten him. Fighting only the best is what makes Oscar so endearing to his fans; however, when faced with a pure boxer, he finds himself a step behind.

When in the ring with a tough guy who likes to bang, Oscar shines. When the winner of the fight comes down to a slug fest or a game of who has the stronger chin, 9 times out of 10, Oscar de la Hoya will be the last man standing. Oscar’s record shows that he is at his best when he allows his natural instincts to take control and embraces the Mexican warrior in his blood. For the life of me I will never understand why Oscar doesn’t simply seek and destroy every man in the sport who thinks he has pop. Oscar isn’t fighting for the money because he is rich beyond his dreams. He can not possibly be a belt seeker or he would have chosen weaker opponents to snatch them from. Oscar has always sought the best fights, what he assumed would be the most entertaining for his fans. Unfortunately, it seems like he hasn’t realized yet that his best fights are against brawlers.

Oscar is a talented boxer. He is undefeated in my book when faced with one dimensional opponents who came to knock Oscar out. Against Felix Trinidad Oscar showed brilliance and poise right up to the moment when he too got robbed by the judges. Ricardo Mayorga appeared amateurish next to Oscar’s skill and Campas never stood a chance.

It’s his opponent selection that has caused his record to suffer. Oscar appears to be chasing this dream to decisively beat a pure boxer.  Floyd Mayweather, Sr. was hired to fix this problem. Mayweather taught Oscar every trick in the book of pugilism to no avail.  The pure boxer victory has eluded Oscar regardless of how hard he works, or who he hires to help him learn because in actuality Oscar is a Banger. His closest advisers would do well to pull him aside and say, “Oscar, you’re a Mexican, quit trying to dance and beat this guy up, Mexican style!”

Steve Forbes is no threat to Oscar's chin. With only 9 knock outs in 33 fights, it is safe to assume that Forbes is not on a mission to be the first man to put Oscar’s lights out with a blow to the head. Forbes is coming to stick and move and out point the Golden Boy for the upset. The only problem with that plan is that Steve Forbes appears to be a 'choke' artist. When faced with a belt, or a high profile fight, Forbes, like Oscar against pure boxers, can not seem to close the deal. When lead to water, this horse either under performs to a wide margin loss or allows his opponents to stay so close to him on the scorecards that the judges are free to rob him blind. Demetrius Hopkins and Alejandro Gonzalez are prime examples of Forbes' inability to prove to the judges that he has won decisively.     

This is the fight of Steve Forbes' life. Like all of Oscar’s opponents, this is the biggest fight of Forbes' career. He will make more money on this night than all his other fights combined.  Regardless of what Oscar says, he is already looking past Forbes to Mayweather Jr. I do not believe he will ever make the Sturm mistake again, Oscar will be in shape for this fight, but he is preparing for September. Forbes is here to get Oscar's confidence back with a win over a pure boxer.  I believe that in a total snooze fest Forbes will do what he normally does, choke. The judges will do what they do, turn a blind eye, and Oscar will get his mega snooze fest fight in September.  The only thing that would make any of this worthwhile for this fan is if Oscar ended the year, and his career, with a mega knock down, drag out battle with Miguel Cotto, a banger that can box!
 

1.       My scoreboard results are based on a scoring system I created myself.  It measures fighters based on the criteria below:

·         5 points for every fight won.

·         10 points for every fight won by KO.

·         15 points for every fight won by decision.

·         Ten points for every championship fight won.

·         -5 points for every fight lost.

·         0 points for a fight lost whether or not there was a championship at stake.  Advantage De La Hoya
 

2.       Height and Reach – Advantage De La Hoya

3.       Age-  Advantage Forbes

4.       World championship fights- Advantage De La Hoya

5.       Knock outs – De La Hoya

6.       Level of competition is an average of the records of every opponent this fighter has ever faced. -  Advantage De La Hoya

7.       Last ten level of competition is an average of the records of the last ten opponents this fighter has faced. – Advantage De La Hoya

8.       Losses- Advantage Equal

9.       Momentum is a break down of each fighter’s last five fights.  - Advantage  Forbes

Questions? Comments? E-mail: Lisa Craddock