One of the most anticipated rematches in boxing took place Saturday night, September 13th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The results were the same but what took place in the ring was totally different. The first fight was a battle of wills and each man wanted to employ his strength over the other; it was a heated 12 round affair that ended with Shane Mosley the winner by split decision. This time around the fight inside the ring was different. In the rematch there was a game plan that appeared to work to perfection, at least until the decision was announced.

I clearly had Oscar winning by as many as 4 rounds. I saw the fight 8 to 4 in favor of Oscar de la Hoya. I thought he fought a brilliant fight and boxed extremely well. He took a page out of the Vernon Forrest book as he employed the jab early and often offsetting Mosley's much advertised speed. Mosley appeared befuddled and had no answer as to how to negate De la Hoya's jab and get inside and do some much needed damage in order to have a chance in the fight. For the first 5 rounds it appeared as though Mosley was clueless, as De la Hoya peppered him consistently with the jab and an occasional right-hand.

Mosley hardly even threw a telling blow throughout the first 5 rounds; Oscar sat outside and picked him apart. In round 6 Mosley would finally start to come alive and score what appeared to be his first winning round. His corner was also very honest with him in telling him" "Shane you are behind in this fight, and you need to get started because you're giving up too much of the round and you're letting him steal the rounds at the end."

Mosley did nothing that would give one the sense that it was urgent he do something to capture the judges' eye, but in hindsight I guess he did... he got points just for coming forward with ineffective aggression. De la Hoya stayed true to his plan, even when it appeared to be nothing more than a mere formality as to who had won. He dug down and decided not to rest on his lead and come up short like he did against Felix Trinidad. Welcome to Boxing! It wasn't the first time it happened and I'm sure it won't be the last. I'm sure any true boxing fan remembers the Lennox Lewis vs Holyfield fight which was called a draw when Lewis clearly won the fight, and the list goes on ... Barrera vs Morales I, Mayweather vs Castillo I, Leonard vs Hearns II, are just a few of the fights that automatically come to mind.

Still boxing will continue to go on with this happening more often than one would think, with this fight just happening to be on a larger scale. On small shows, often times the house fighter gets the close one and even sometimes not so close one. Plus everyone sees things differently; some people actually thought Shane Mosley won and obviously they weren't wrong in thinking that, as the judges at ringside saw it that way as well.

If Oscar decides to retire I wish him well and know that whatever he touches and decides to do will also be Golden. The boxing world will certainly miss him but we will never forget him for all the thrills and the integrity that he brought to the sport. He made the average person that wasn't even a fight fan want to watch boxing. Boxing never had so many women fans until De la Hoya took center-stage. His appeal will be hard to surpass for any fighter and of course there is that million dollar smile. Oscar has been a symbol of all that is good in and for boxing.

Oscar de la Hoya's place in Boxing History is solidified and has been for quite sometime. I hope this wasn't Oscar's last hurrah; but if it is so, this fight did nothing to tarnish his place in history or tarnish his mass-appeal. Agree or Disagree, Sugar Shane Mosley is "Sweet Again."

09-13-2003

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