Oscar De La Hoya is the last household name left in boxing and his star power is being matched with the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr. It is without a doubt the biggest fight of the year and boxing’s last gasp at relevancy in the world of sports. In addition to the main event superfight, Rocky Juarez will take on Jose Hernandez in a super featherweight bout and Rey Bautista will face Sergio Manuel Medina in a super bantamweight eliminator.
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr
Money Lines: De La Hoya +155; Mayweather Jr -185
No one can say this fight isn’t being hyped enough. In addition to a multi-city press tour, De La Hoya and Mayweather are combining training footage to create 24/7, a four-part series on HBO designed purely to hype this fight. Some are saying this could be the last superfight in boxing, ever. Nevermind that the WBC Light Middleweight Title is on the line. This is a classic good vs. evil matchup. Oscar’s Golden Boy persona is tailor-made for the good guy role. Like the Ricky Steamboat of boxing. Mayweather, on the other hand, enjoys playing the villian but don’t be fooled. Mayweather is his own biggest fan but he knows he has become the boxer people love to hate. The kind that makes people want to spend money just to watch him lose. His pre-fight antics and trash talk are all in the name of ticket and PPV sales. Golden Boy Promotions expects this fight to set records in terms of pay-per-view revenue and having polar opposite personalities in the ring will help achieve those goals.
Mayweather Jr is undefeated in 37 fights with 24 KOs. His hand and foot speed is second to none but he gets a bad wrap for selecting soft opponents, at least soft for someone considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. The case could be made that De La Hoya, 38-4 (30 KOs), is past his prime at 34 years old and Floyd is once again picking on the remains of a lesser fighter. The only real hole in Floyd’s game is that his hands are fragile and break often in his fights. If De La Hoya can get Mayweather Jr to throw heavy shots, the chance of a hand injury is greater and then Oscar can go to work. I don’t think the Golden Boy will have a problem taking Mayweather’s power. Oscar has only been knocked out once in his career and that was by a body shot from Bernard Hopkins in 2004.
Oscar also has the edge in big fight experience but superior boxing skill and quickness is a good way for Mayweather to negate that advantage. Oscar better be in the best shape of his life because he’s most likely in store for 12 long rounds of “chase the counter puncher.” Mayweather won’t come forward on De La Hoya as Ricardo Mayorga did. Age will catch up to Oscar and Mayweather will further his own personal stance as the greatest boxer ever. Without taking on serious contenders in their prime, that statement will only ring true in Floyd’s mind.
Prediction: Mayweather Jr by unanimous decision.
Rocky Juarez vs. Jose Hernandez
Money Lines: Juarez -800; Hernandez +500
Golden Boy Promotions signed Juarez to their stable of fighters and this is nothing more than a showcase fight. The undercard should really be full of compelling fighters given the expected audience but instead we get this one-sided affair. Hernandez was getting smashed by Jason Litzau in his last fight before he made the cocky kid eat canvas. Litzau seemed more interested in putting on a show than winning and allowed Hernandez to pull the upset. That is his only quality win. He’s even lost to a couple of hacks.
Juarez won a silver medal in the 2000 Olympics and narrowly lost to Marco Antonio Barrera before losing more convincingly in the rematch. This fight will put Juarez back on the winning side of things. That is as long as he learned from the Jason Litzau fight to never lose focus on your opponent. Hernandez proved his toughness against Litzau so this fight will probably go the full scheduled ten rounds.
Prediction: Juarez by unanimous decision.
Rey Bautista vs. Sergio Manuel Medina
Money Lines: Bautista -350; Medina +275
This battle of undefeated super bantamweights is for the right to face WBO champion Daniel Ponce De Leon. Bautista is just 20-years-old while Medina comes in at the ripe old age of 25. Bautista has yet to really be tested as he has rarely gone the distance in his 22 professional fights. Medina has more ring experience over his 28 fights but it has come against tomato cans. It’s not good when you fight more rounds against lesser opponents. A knockout would really cause Bautista, someone Golden Boy Promotions hopes to mold into a star, to gain some momentum in his career. Since many boxing matches are fixed, I’ll go with that as my prediction.
Prediction: Bautista by KO in the 5th round.
The price tag is a bit steep at $54.95 given the lackluster undercard but the main event is one of the very few superfights that boxing can produce. De La Hoya won’t give up like Judah did so the fight will be competitive and you can bet the crowd will be electric. Do what you can to see this fight, if only to do your part in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo.
