The Standing Eight Count- Oscar’s “Homecoming”

By Dave Wilcox

 On May 3rd, this Saturday night, Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Productions are bringing their latest “Oscar” show to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. For the first time since his split decision loss to Sugar Shane Mosley in 2000 at the Staples Center, Oscar is fighting in front of his hometown fans in a promotion being billed as “Homecoming”.  Former IBF Super Featherweight World Champion and “Contender” alumni Steve Forbes will be the opponent for Oscar in what most people are calling a tune-up bout for “The Golden Boy”.

The tentative plan is for De La Hoya to beat Forbes and then move on to a lucrative rematch against Floyd Mayweather in September of this year. “Pretty boy” Floyd won a unanimous decision over De La Hoya in their first dance last year. The Pay-Per-View buys for their first scrap were a record 2.15 million which shattered the previous record of 1.99 million for the 1997 bout between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. The previous record for non-Heavyweight bouts was 1.4 million for the 1999 fight between De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad. With those numbers a rematch is inevitable. Of course the first fight was so boring, I wouldn’t expect numbers quite as high this time around. The fight this Saturday between De La Hoya and Forbes will not be on Pay-Per View, it will be shown Live on HBO. The last time Oscar was in a non PPV event was back in 2001 when he destroyed everybody’s favorite punching bag Arturo Gatti in 5 rounds.

Everyone I’ve spoken to on the bout against Forbes feels this is an easy fight for Oscar and only a tune up for the Mayweather rematch. During his media conference call earlier this week, Oscar tried to convince everyone this fight is more than just a tune up.

“I’ve been training since January for this fight and we’ve been taking the necessary steps to be ready for this fight, and ready I am” said De La Hoya. “Mayweather, Sr. has taken me to another level”

“Mayweather brings out the best in me and I’m not sure what I would have done without him”

Oscar of course is referring to Floyd Mayweather Sr. who is back as head trainer for Oscar following his Freddie Roach experiment.

“Freddie Roach is a tremendous trainer, he is by far one of the top two or three trainers in the world, but me and Floyd have this connection and we work real well together.” Oscar would go on to say.

The day before Oscar’s conference call, Steve Forbes had one of his own.  “I know I’m the underdog, but I’m here and I’m excited.”  “I’m looking forward to being there and being 100%” said Forbes.

“Oscar is strong and can punch very hard.” I’m going to push the pace, I’m prepared to go 12 hard rounds.”  “I’m a marathon guy, I’m a decision fighter.”  If the knockout comes, that’s great, but that is not my game.” “I’m going to use my skills and get the points.”

While listening to Steve Forbes talk it almost sounded as if he was trying to convince himself that he had a chance against De La Hoya. Steve is a very nice guy and I wish him well in this one, but in this scribe’s opinion, I give him very little chance on Saturday. He has the same style as Mayweather without the speed, power and flamboyance of Floyd.

The Home Depot Center is expecting a sell out of around 28,000 people on their Soccer field this Saturday. It should be a wild night in Carson with all of Oscar’s Homers.

Yours truly could also be labeled as an Oscar Homer. Being a Southern California resident myself, I have to support my guy. I know I’ve spent many a night on a barstool..Errrrrrrrrrrrr I mean dinner table defending his manhood. Oscar De La Hoya fights are an event, and I’m darn happy that this event is in my backyard.

I’ll be Ringside this Saturday covering the action. See my ringside report on Ringsports.com

The Particulars:

The 35 year old De La Hoya comes into this bout with a 38(30 ko)-5( 1 ko) and no draws.

He stands 5’ 10.5” and has a reach of 73”

Steve Forbes is 31 years old and brings a nice record of 33(9 ko)- 5 (0 ko) and no draws.

He stands 5’ 7.5” and has a 68 reach.

Random Boxing thoughts

I hear that the Unified Cruiserweight Champion, David Haye is trying to entice Wlad Klitschko to give him a shot at the Heavyweight title. My first thought was this is a bad idea. After a few moments of deep thought, I changed my mind. After all, could it be any worse than the Ibragimov fight or the upcoming Tony Thompson fight?  At least Haye has a unified belt and some power to test the alleged soft whiskers of Wlad.

I can’t help but wonder if we have seen the last of the Great Bernard Hopkins in a meaningful fight. After his decision loss to Joe Calzaghe, I don’t see another opponent that could motivate him or pay him enough to come out of retirement. The only chance would be if lighting struck and Roy Jones was able to upset Calzaghe. At this point, a Jones victory against anyone credible is a stretch. (don’t tell me about Trinidad, he was washed up and about three weight classes to high)  I will miss “The Executioner” he is one of the last of the old school fighters. If there was ever a guy built for 15 round fights, it was him.

Speaking of Felix Trinidad, I just heard that he turned down a potential bout with Jermaine Taylor. He claimed a fight against Taylor wouldn’t motivate him to train hard. All I can say is thank you for being boring Jermaine because I don’t want to continue to see the once great Trinidad continue to embarrass himself. I would hate to put him in the Evander Holyfield posse of guys who can’t say retire.

Isn’t it about time that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. stops making me pay $50.00 dollars on PPV to watch him in fights against nobodies? How about a live opponent Jr.? I don’t mind a guy learning his craft over time, but for crying out loud, get off my PPV because my lovely wife is ready to kick me out of the house. Pay-Per View is like crack. I can’t stop using it and it is depleting my bank account.

Keep Punching