A POSSESSED-LOOKING OSCAR DE LA HOYA DESTROYS RICARDO MAYORGA IN SIX; MAYWEATHER JR. MAY BE NEXT

By Tom Dickey @ ringside



 

   


-Photo Credit: D M Warr/DKP--

    If there were any concerns about ring rust with Oscar de la Hoya, they were  erased very quickly on Saturday night as he dropped Ricardo Mayorga twice en route to a sixth round TKO. In the exciting bout that played out in front of a sell out crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Oscar looked like a man possessed, and he took out his pent up frustrations on Ricardo Mayorga.
 
    
Oscar jumped on Mayorga early. He caught him with a vicious overhand right followed by his signature left hook, which dropped Mayorga in the opening round.  Mayorga seemed stunned as he beat the count, albeit on wobbly legs. Later in the round, Oscar got Mayorga's attention again with another overhand right which set the tone for the fight.  

     Mayorga started better in round two, where he landed a couple of big right hands, but in the last minute Oscar stunned Mayorga again  with another overhand right. Oscar followed it up with hard shots to the body, but Mayorga was able to survive the round.
 
     The third round started fairly even until midway in, when
Oscar landed a huge left uppercut that stopped Mayorga in his tracks. However, Mayorga came back with his own big right uppercut, which appeared to stun De la Hoya just a tad. Oscar was able to comeback and close the round with a solid left-right combination upstairs.  

     Oscar established himself early in the fourth round landing a hard overhand right followed up by a left hook. Mayorga came back with a couple of haymakers that partially landed, but once again, late in the round, De la Hoya landed a solid counter left hook, which knocked Mayorga off balance. Mayorga had to be warned by referee Jay Nady at the end of the round for throwing rabbit punches.
 

     Oscar was solid in round five, he was able to counter very well early in the round, and was successful in becoming the aggressor later on. Towards the end of the round Mayorga pounded
Oscar with about three rabbit punches that drew another warning from Jay Nady.  

     Mayorga actually started well early in round six landing a few decent shots early, until Oscar unleashed a six punch combo that mercifully dropped Mayorga. Mayorga beat the count and Oscar jumped on him ferociously winging left and rights upstairs. Mayorga tried to fight back valiantly, but he was taking a beating and referee Jay Nady stepped in to halt the bout. Oscar de la Hoya wins by 6th round TKO at 1:25. With the impressive victory, De la Hoya improves to 38-4, and sets up a potential September 16th date with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. With the loss Mayorga falls to 28-6-1.
 
     After the fight,
Oscar had plenty to say, especially about Winky Wright, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Antonio Margarito, who were present at the post-fight press conference. For his potential September 16th date, Oscar mentioned Floyd Jr. as a possible foe, but mentioned Winky and Antonio Margarito as possibilities.  

     As far as the fight went, Oscar said he felt rusty for the first minute, but then his jab took over. He felt his focus and his jab were the keys to winning the fight. He further said that he would have to sit down with Floyd Mayweather Sr. before taking a potential fight with Junior. After the fight Oscar also said that he told Mayorga he forgave him for all he said, and that Mayorga told him that he is a true champion. He further stated, referring to Mayorga, "he got my blood boiling, and that's what I needed and I'm glad he talked." Oscar took questions from Wright and Margarito and answered them both diplomatically leaving his options open for September 16th.
 
     In the semi-main event, Kassim Ouma won by split decision over
Marco Antonio Rubio in an uneventful fight. Rubio came out strong and staggered Ouma in the opening round with a straight right hand, and then dropped him with another straight right. Ouma was able to beat  the count and survive the round. Ouma came back strong in the next couple of rounds, and he was able to catch Rubio as Rubio was going backwards. Ouma was landing solid straight left-right combos. Ouma probably took rounds 2-4 with his combo consistency.
 
     Rubio started to come back in the middle rounds. He became more active as the fight started to slow down until the ninth round when the fight went to close quarters. While in close, Ouma was a little more effective and crisp with his shots than Rubio. The fight stayed close, but Ouma was doing better work inside.
 
      The fight went to the scorecards and amazingly it was a split decision with Ouma winning by scores of 117-110,113-114, and 116-111. BRC scored the fight 116-111 for Ouma, who becomes the WBC #1 contender and improves to
24-2-1, while Rubio falls to 32-3-1.

 
      Junior lightweight sensation
Joan Guzman continued to impress and stayed unbeaten with a dominant unanimous decision victory over seasoned veteran Javier Jauregui. Guzman was just too fast, and too strong for the game Jauregui. Guzman was picking apart the charging Jauregui with crisp, very fast four punch combinations, while Jauregui landed the occasional shot, but was countered four fold by Guzman who was just too overpowering for Jauregui.  

     Guzman stayed undefeated and showed he's a talent too be watched. The Dominican showed tremendous speed and always threw combinations. Guzman won on the cards by scores of 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91. The impressive Guzman improves to 25-0, while Jauregui falls to 51-13-2.   
 
     On the opening bout of the televised portion of the card,
Jorge Paez Jr. went the distance for the first time, but had no trouble defeating fellow undefeated fighter Lowell Brownfield, who hails from Omaha, Nebraska. Paez stunned Brownfield a couple of times with his right hand and Brownfield seemed tentative towards it throughout the fight. With the victory Paez improves to 9-0, while Brownfield falls to 7-1.
 
     In an off-TV bout former 2004 Olympian Rock
Allen cruised to an easy unanimous decision victory over Juan Hernandez in a six round junior welterweight bout. Allen controlled the action from the opening bell with a solid jab and combinations. Allen of Philadelphia improves to 7-0 with the win, while Hernandez of Los Angeles falls to 2.  

     In a six round featherweight bout, Saul Ochoa of Phoenix, Arizona  pulled off an upset with a fifth round stoppage of previously unbeaten Aaron Garcia. Ochoa improves to 4-2-1, while Garcia of Vista, California falls to 7-1.  

     In a six round featherweight bout, Jonathan Oquendo of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico defeated Torrance Daniels of Colorado Springs by unanimous decision. Oquendo improves to 9-0, while Daniels falls to 5-2-1.

Questions? Comments? Email Tom Dickey

5-6-2006       
 


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