|
Jack Welsh On Boxing
SHANE IN SQUEAKER BUT OSCAR WANTS PROBE
Sugar Shane Mosley, pumped high in motivation,
knew it was a fight he absolutely had to win, but he didn’t
expect taking Oscar De La Hoya’s WBC/ WBA
super welterweight titles would stir such controversy the other
night at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
With a sellout crowd of 16,274 screaming on it’s feet in
the last two rounds, De La Hoya strongly protested the voting of
three veteran judges who gave Mosley a close but unanimous 12-round
decision.
The official judging was 115-113 as tabbed by Duane
Ford of Las Vegas, Nv.: Stanley Christodoulu, Johannesburg, S.A.,
and Anek
Hongtongkam, Bangkok, Thai.
De La Hoya, hinting earlier he might retire if he lost
this heavily-hyped rematch with a paid gate of $11 million, made
no reference on that
aspect but surprised a post-fight media recap in declaring, he
would ask the Nevada State Athletic Commission to investigate the
judges’ scoring “on a fight I feel I won by at least
two points.”
CompuBox punchstats are not official but De La Hoya
cited that its figures gave credence to his contention “I deserved the
victory.”
In total punches thrown, CompuBox disclosed the Golden Boy’s
total landed 221 of 616 shots for 36 percent while Mosley’s
tab was 127 of 496 for 26 percent. In the jab category, De La Hoya
was accurate with 106 of 296 for 32 percent against Mosley’s
12 percent, having only 33 of 268 on target, Power punches showed
the defending champion was on the mark with 115 of 320 offered
for 36 percent while Mosley’s only edge was 41 percent, landing
94 of 228.
“
I’ll put my head into it, I have the resources to take an
investigation just like the NFL, NBA, and baseball has done. We’ll
look at the fight tape and we’ll get to the bottom of this.
If I’m wrong, I’m wrong but if I’m right, all
the better. It’s not sour grapes, it’s nothing against
Shane, he’s a great guy and champion. But it’s time
for somebody to make a stand for boxing and bad decisions.I didn’t
underestimate Mosley’s power or speed. Remember. we grew
up to together and he’s a great fighter,” Oscar reflected
as his resume begrudingly dipped to 36-3, 29 KOs.
Such an investigation is unlikely, and much of the
media felt De La Hoya was briefly a victim of his emotions immediately
after
losing to Mosley for the second time in a fight Nevada oddsmakers
had him a 2-1 favorite to win.
Perhaps a much bigger surprise was a distraught Top
Rank promoter Bob Arum’s reaction over the judges’ official
scoring, implying he would retire from boxing at the end of the
year.
With contempt showing visibly in his face, Arum told
the Las Vegas Review-Journal “I think this was such a frigging outrage
that I’ll never be a party to this again. Oscar wins clearly,
like 116-112. I can’t abide this sport any more.”
“
I say let other people carry on, and I’ll never promote another
fight in Nevada. I can’t say something fishy went on because
how do I know? I’d be making it up. I can only say I think
something fishy was going on. I certainly don’t have any
evidence there was something fishy,” Arum insisted.
It was a great turnaround for the 31-year-old Mosley,
the punching pride of Pomona, Ca., who won De La Hoya’s WBC welterweight
crown on June 17, 2000 with a similar victory when he had to come
from behind in Los Angeles. However, the surge as one of the sport’s
top pound-for-pound performers put Sugar Shane on the skids last
year when he lost back-to-back to Vernon Forrest and went nearly
26 months without a victory. This triumph brought Mosley’s
credentials back to 39-2, 36 KOs, plus that $500,000 bonus out
of De La Hoya’s purse for beating him to go with a guarantee
of $4.5 million.
‘”
The first time beating Oscar was always sweet, but this is just
the same. It’s like I am back on top. The purse disparity
(De La Hoya getting $17 million) I had to put out of my mind and
it would have been a heartbreaker to lose this decision too after
losing
in the negotiations. It was motivation. I thought about it, but
I had to look past the money and go for the historical value,” Mosley
said in winning his third world title since turning pro in 1993.
De La Hoya, 30, East Los Angeles, Ca., was so frustrated
losing that split decision to Mosley the first time, he complained
about
the judging and felt “I deserved at least a draw.”
As time passed, Arum’s mega money machine would admit “Shane
is the only guy who ever beat me,” a conciliation he would
never give Felix “Tito” Trinidad who delivered his
first loss Sept.18,1999 on a highly-controversial majority decision.
In the hype countdown, Mosley said he would kayo De
La Hoya in five rounds while the latter indicated his plan “was to win
every rounds boxing” to leave no question about the decision,
recalling to his fans what had happen against Trinidad.
It is significant to note the respect shown by these
life-long rivals as they touched gloves before and after every
round.
The biggest non-heavyweight draw in boxing did what
was expected with the jab and enough rights from the outside to
keep Mosley
cautious in the first half of the action. De La Hoya won five of
the first seven rounds on the tabs of Ford and Hongtongkam and
four with Christodoulou.
There was a moment of concern in the fourth round when
the fighters banged heads. Referee Joe Cortez called it an accidental
head butt
with De La Hoya getting a cut inside his right eye. The cut did
not worsen and was never a factor in the outcome
although Cortez stayed alert in cautioning the rivals on butts
in the seven, eighth and ninth rounds.
Three years ago Mosley trailed De La Hoya by three
points on two cards after seven rounds when he started his narrow
victory drive.
Ironically, the scenario at the MGM looked like a carbon copy as
Mosley applied the pressure, scoring big with a right to the head
and later on a left hook to win the ninth round and start a sweep
of four rounds.
At this juncture, Mosley appeared stronger and faster
as he began to back up De La Hoya with wicked body shots that had
the champion
bending over without his punching rhythm.
The judges had it all even at 95-95 going into the
11th round. Both adversaries let it all hang out, Mosley loosing
his mouthpiece
but not the round. De La Hoya reached deep with his right but Mosley
was still making an impression with those body shots the 12th.
Mosley later admitted he felt the decision might go “Oscar’s
way because of his popularity and we always felt Vegas was his
town.”
“
I felt my punches had more effect on De La Hoya this time than
the last time. He never hurt me with any power shots. There was
no sting. It was just a smack. Mine were more like a thud landing,” said
the new 154-pound champion.
“
When Oscar said he might have ask for an investigation of the judges,
it was just the emotions of the moment. He is very competitive
and I’m very competitive. It’s just his nature. De
La Hoya is a world champion legend, a Hall of Famer. What more
can you say? I don’t know how he feels about his future,
but if he wants to do it, I’m ready now or later on.”
|
