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Now, despite what people may say, I think Hopkins v De La Hoya was a good fight. Fight fans seem to forget that that there was a lot riding on this fight for each man, and they couldn't just come out swinging. They both had a plan in mind: Hopkins expected De La Hoya to come out and box smartly, but De La Hoya did what Roy Jones did against Ruiz by standing in front of the larger man. Although Hopkins was surprised by this, which took him a few rounds to get adjusted, he still had answers for whatever De La Hoya did. To De La Hoya's credit, I applaud him for even taking the fight and more for standing in there and not running. However, Hopkins was starting to land cleaner punches as the fight went on, and punctuated that with a vicious body shot.
The combination Hopkins put De La Hoya out was a soft jab with a strong left to the body, then came back with a left hook (incidentally, that's the same combo that I work on incessantly when hitting the heavy bag). The jab was blocked by De La Hoya, but by the time he saw the left to the body coming, it was too late. He tried to block it with his elbow but he got caught in the liver with a Ward shot. The left to the head was not of any consequence, the body shot was enough.
After the fight, my friends, who only watch the big fights, called me to ask what happened. After telling that Hopkins took De La Hoya's breath away, they were like "that's BS", and that De La Hoya could have gotten up. I just asked them to let me punch them in the same place and see what happens. Regardless of what anyone in the media has to say about this fight, nothing can be taken away from Hopkins and De La Hoya for their performance in the ring. Thanks, champs! Don't be surprised if there isn't a rematch after the unsatisfactory ending, at least from De La Hoya's perspective.
Other thoughts and musings....
--- I'm interested in seeing what the buys were for this PPV. I'm thinking that it did better than Trinidad-De La Hoya because De La was saying this was his last fight, Hopkins gained some notoriety and respect after beating Trinidad, and this was a history making fight. Hopefully Hopkins will start to be respected from the causal boxing fan, and will get big fights and garner big money.
--- I was not that impressed with Juan Manuel Marquez. I know he's been around for a while and I know he's a good counterpuncher, but I felt that he could have went after Orlando Salido more in their fight. Salido wasn't doing much of anything and Marquez was content to just carefully box his way to a decision. This is not the way to prepare for Manny Pacquiao IF he intends on fighting him next. If he thinks Pacman will come in with only a straight left hand, he's sadly mistaken. Already knowing what Marquez beings to the table, Freddie Roach has already established a game plan that will have Pacquiao using both of his hands in a way that Marquez will not expect.
--- Marco Antonio Rubio got STARCHED! I'm not even sure he was able to land one punch, as Kofi Janutah threw two jabs, two hooks, then they traded hooks, with Jantuah's reaching first and hardest. You could see in Rubio's eyes that he was done. And the way his head hit the canvas could not have helped matters. I was glad to see that he was able to get up without assistance after that. Jantuah is now the WBC #1 contender for a now more interesting Jr. Middleweight division. With Daniel Santos showing a more aggressive style, Antonio Margarito in the mix, and Kassim Ouma and Verno Phillips battling for the IBF title in a few weeks, both Shane Mosley and Winky Wright will have some questions to answer, regardless of who wins.
--- There are several big time fights coming up in the next two weeks. This Friday, James Toney will be getting back in the ring to face undefeated Rydell booker for the right to become the mandatory for Vitali Klitchko. The very next day is the Glen Johnson/ Roy Jones fight, where Jones will be looking to "get back" in to the ring after a devastating KO at the hands or Tarver. Then the next weekend, Felix Trinidad makes his return to the ring against Ricardo Mayorga. Too bad that's a PPV fight, because that same night, Verno Phillips tries to avenge his loss to Kassim Ouma on Showtime for free and Jeff Lacy goes for his first belt against Syd Vanderpool. The IBF title will be at stake in the Jr. Middleweight and Super Middleweight divisions, respectively.
CORRECTIONS: In my "Tale of the Tape" analysis on Hopkins/De La Hoya, I said that Archie Griffin boxed well into his forties; of course I meant Archie Moore. Being an alumnus of THE Ohio State University and an astute boxing fan, I always get those two confused in text and speech. But when your college has a two time Heisman Trophy winner, you tend to hear his name a great deal.
Please send all questions and comments to crice@catsmpo.com.
