The LA Times’ Bill Dwyre on Saturday’s Main Event, and the “Grand Canyon likeability gap” between the opponents.
De La Hoya is well-spoken. In two languages. He sees the public, and its messenger the press, as something to be treated with respect, to be looked in the eye and addressed with candor. In all the talk about whether, at 34, this will be his last fight, win or lose, one thing is clear, and was articulated by his Golden Boy business partner.
“This is not a legacy fight for Oscar,” Richard Schaefer said. “His legacy is already established.”
Schaefer also said that this could be a legacy fight for Mayweather, adding, “But even if he wins, he’ll never be another Oscar.”
Never is a long time.
Mayweather is a product of a tough area of Grand Rapids, Mich. His father, Floyd Sr., and his uncle, Roger, were the biggest influences in his life. Both have spent time in jail and neither has put down a blueprint for how to win friends and influence people.
Floyd Sr. trained De La Hoya for most of his recent fights, then lost that job when he demanded $2 million for this fight. His son clearly got the message along the way about money being the end-all. Several years ago, Floyd Jr. told HBO, which had offered him a fight package worth $10 million, that he didn’t “work for slave wages.”
Uncle Roger, who trains Floyd Jr., recently established new lows for bad taste ” call it the Don Imus Award ” when he commented about De La Hoya’s trainer, Freddie Roach, who has Parkinson’s disease, “I could take him, even if I had polio.”
You spend time with De La Hoya, you want to have dinner with him. You spend time with Floyd Jr., you want to take a shower. As De La Hoya himself said, doing his best to be kind, “I don’t really dislike Floyd, I just don’t care for him.”
There is a reason the payoff split for this fight favors De La Hoya, 70-30. And therein lies the lesson for Mayweather, one better learned late than never.
With all due respect, Dwyre doesn’t speak for the entire mainstream audience. As any wrestling fan knows, you can’t have a babyface without a credible heel. Much has been made this week about De La Hoya’s historical PPV grosses, which while certainly impressive, ought to be compared to those of Mike Tyson. Would Dwyre have us believe that Iron Mike’s earning power would’ve been a penny higher had he seemed a tad less menacing?
Prior to Round One, Jim Lampley asked Larry Merchant for a prediction. Merchant, supposedly on his way out the door, replied, “If I were a betting man, Mayweather. But if I lost my money….I wouldn’t be unhappy.”
it’s about time the slick trash talking black dude (heel…i guess) won a decision against de la hoya…i saw it as sort of a half assed atonement for pernell whitaker
That article about Larry Merchant is pretty odd. I know Max Kellerman is pretty repellent, but by what standard is Merchant — who has been obviously and hopelessly drunk on HBO’s broadcasts for as long as I can remember — a serious journalist? He stops talking around the fourth round of every fight, coming in now and then with a Ralph Kiner-ian non sequitur, and then stumbles up to whoever won and slurs something at him. Yeah, it’s probably still better than Max, but the guy’s not Edward R. Murrow. BAC-wise, he’s more like Edward Furlong.
Matt –
Oscar sticks with the jab (and doesn’t run outta gas), he probably wins last night. As it stands, I thought he acquitted himself far better at the age of 340 than I’d have suspected. As for Mayweather, he’s no dummy — he did just enough to win, and if there’s a way to go 38-0 as unspectacularly as possible, well, he’s just done it.
David –
there are many reasons why I could never do Raissman’s column (my lack of a handlebar mustache being just one of them). I actually like Kellerman and Merchant, particularly the latter’s willingness to let the audience know they just dropped $50 + on a lousy fight (though last night was almost worth the $64.95)
Lampley, of course, was great in “Blades Of Glory”. Not Jason Bateman great, mind you, but great just the same.
people keep repeating the “if he sticks with the jab he wins” line…it really doesn’t matter now and i don’t think it did in the fight. like most of delahoya’s (or sugar ray leonard for that matter) flurries, nothing really landed. that’s the worst part about lampley, if someone throws and throws (especially a guy he likes) he makes it out like their opponent is about to get ko’d whether the guy is getting hit in the face or hit in the shoulder. it’s pathetic.
and yea, defensive boxing is boring to most people…but it’s the hardest thing in boxing to learn and apply, it’s what kept pernell whitaker from getting decisions in fights he won against punch happy latin american style fighters who couldn’t hit him…it’s why people think floyd didn’t “win” last night…this isn’t a toughman contest…it’s a boxing match.
Matt,
re : Lamps. I had the sound off for much of the fight (wuz watching the Mets/D-Backs on the laptop). Though i can confirm Mark Grace didn’t have much useful to say either, I’ll add the following — if Oscar knocks down Mayweather and the latter doesn’t get up by the count of ten, he wins.
A bold statement, I know. But just to clarify, I have only the highest admiration for Mayweather Jr.’s strategic prowess and didn’t find last night’s decision questionable. My initial suspicion that De La Hoya would win the split decision had more to do with his role as co-promoter than any sense his opponent hadn’t earned the victory. If I lusted for an unlikely K.O., that’s merely because I’ve had my fill of the Golden Boy.