By Donald Geranen: According to Dan Rafael of ESPN, light welterweight Steve Forbes (33-5, 9 KOs) has opted to let his trainer Roger Mayweather go due to recent problem that arose earlier today when Floyd Mayweather Jr. became upset with Roger (his uncle and trainer) about him training Forbes, which Floyd felt might potentially upset his upcoming mega bout with Oscar De La Hoya if Forbes were somehow able to defeat De La Hoya.
Floyd then made hints that he might let Roger go as a trainer if Roger were to go ahead with his plans to train Forbes for the bout. Without missing a beat, Forbes, in turn, hired Jeff Mayweather, Roger’s brother, as a replacement trainer for his bout with De La Hoya.
The drama aside, it likely matters little in the larger scheme of things who trains Forbes, since Floyd Sr., Roger and Jeff have all taken turns training him during his career, and his fight game is already ingrained with the skills learned from them. Mayweather Jr., however, seems to be afraid that Roger could somehow impart some valuable advice that would enable Forbes to defeat De La Hoya. On the surface, it seems almost laughable, for Jeff – an excellent trainer in his own right – would know pretty much the same things that Roger would about beating the De La Hoya. Indeed, there’s no real mystery on how to beat De La Hoya, whom has been beaten three out of his last six fights (four, if you count his gift decision over Felix Sturm). If Jeff Mayweather and Forbes don’t know how to beat De La Hoya, they’d have to be almost blind or someone that had been holed up in a cave for the past five years, the period in which De La Hoya has started his steep decline as a fighter.
For all his greatness early in his career, De La Hoya is very beatable now, and it doesn’t take a well-planned strategy to beat him. All that it takes is a fighter that stays away in the early rounds, perhaps winning a round or two, and then taking the fight to De La Hoya in the second half of the fight when he gases out like usual. Nothing changes, as he always tires out nowadays. Even with the best knowledge on how to beat De La Hoya, it’s doubtful that Forbes, a fighter that is a full two divisions below De La Hoya in fighting weight, will have the size and strength to beat him. This is precisely why he was chosen rather than a legitimate welterweight or junior middleweight.
At this stage, De La Hoya is vulnerable to being beaten by any top 10 fighter in the welterweight or junior middleweight division. The fact that De La Hoya is on the downside of his career, though, won’t stop his fight with Mayweather from being another huge paying bout for both him and Mayweather, since many of the casual fans are under the impression that De La Hoya is still a top fighter due their scant knowledge of boxing. It’s not something that is reported on radio or normal, non-HBO television, so most fans are in the dark about De La Hoya, and react mostly to his name with only the vaguest idea of his current ability.