Oscar De La Hoya – It’s Time To Pass The Torch

By Boxing News - 12/12/2008 - Comments

dela434456By Adam Laiolo: Lets put opinions aside of what you think of him right now, whether good or bad, and just take one look at his record from a neutral perspective. Forget Oscar the man, the promoter or the golden boy. Forget the Donny Osmond smile and the sophisticated demeanor and the millions upon millions he’s made for the good or bad for boxing. As a fighter you can never deny god given talent, and he has it by the truckloads. The truth is he has the ability, just not the body to cope with top level professional boxing. Being past your prime doesn’t just mean you’ve faded as a fighter, it also means your past your physical peak.

Experience can make up for the lack of athleticism in later years, but not when your body is completely drained to make a weight. But all things aside, Oscar De La Hoya has the talent and the record to stake a claim as one of the top fighters in the past 20 years. We knock him for now having lost so many fights, but they’re all quality opposition, Hopkins was undisputed middleweight champion, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was pound for pound the best fight at the time Oscar fought him, as was Manny Pacquiao.

Some claimed at the time of defeating him, both Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley were two of the best fighters around. So if every time you’ve lost, you’ve lost to the best, it can’t take too much off your legacy. The trouble is small print, Bernard’s phantom shot which prompted rumors he threw the fight, the daylight robbery against Felix Sturm, Manny being a Super Featherweight naturally.

Oscar to this day claims he beat Trinidad and Mosley, a third fight was due to happen before Mosley changed his mind and fought Vernon Forrest. Many had Oscar and Floyd one of two rounds either way it was that close and I personally, on the night, would’ve given to Oscar for taking the fight to Floyd so aggressively for so long at the age he was back then.

There are ifs and buts both for and against him so you could say things may be worked out about right for him. But it was a sad sight to see Oscar, broken and lifeless on his stool, go out like that, if indeed it does turn out to be his retirement. Apparently he’s fled to Puerto Rico to take some time away and doesn’t want to be contacted for anything.

Seeking solitude somewhere to find out in himself whether he has the desire for the sport anymore. And if he walked away from the game now, he’d leave a massive void in the sport. Oscar doesn’t need to fight again, he has a dominant promotional company, a legacy and his good looks intact with a fully functioning brain. He was a great champion, beat some great fighters, lost to some questionably better fighters won more titles than you could shake a stick at.

But like so many others, he’s well past his best. He needs to be saved from himself, as do most ageing American boxers, there’s a whole list you could name who are just fighting on because they believe they can still cut it.

There’s no next Oscar De La Hoya or Bernard Hopkins coming through, no one to pass the torch onto. So these old timers can still make top dollar because even in their decline, they still pull ten times the numbers any younger American champions can dream of.

Do people honestly believe that Kelly Pavlik was the main attraction against Bernard Hopkins? No chance, Hopkins came out on top which probably earns him another fight and another few million in the bank. It’s time for Oscar to pass the torch, call Tim on his career and wait for the Hall Of Fame to ring in 7 years time. Oscar De La Hoya will miss boxing, but not as much as it will miss him.



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