DE LA HOYA-MOSLEY 2 POST-FIGHT ANALYSIS

September 14, 2003 - by Bert Sugar

Controversy and boxing are as inseparable as two wire coat hangers. Here it is three-quarters of a century later and there is still a controversy over the Dempsey-Tunney "Long Count." And 16 years later the fans of Marvelous Marvin Hagler are still convinced he got the fuzzy end of the lollipop in his bout with Sugar Ray Leonard. Add to those hundreds of other questionable decisions, such as those rendered in the Chavez-Whitaker fight (which begat a comment from a supposed "blind" man on the streets of New York, complete with tin cup and sunglasses, to Lou Duva, manager of Pernell Whitaker, that he could "see that Whitaker won the fight"), Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield I, et cetera, etc., etc., the et ceteras going on for about four pages or more, and you have boxing's most prevalent by-product: controversy. Now you can add to that growing list of controversies Saturday night's fight between Sugar Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya, which ended in a unanimous decision for Mosley

Screaming like youngsters with green-apple colic De La Hoya supporters point to the Compubox numbers that showed De La Hoya landed more punches, both jabs and power, outboxed Mosley, especially in the early rounds, and controlled the fight.

But are they merely examining the bottle rather than the contents? At least that's the opinion of many observers who saw Mosley land the far more telling blows, hurting De La Hoya, pressing forward at all times (did we hear that indefinable term, "effective aggressiveness"?) and close the show by winning the "championship" rounds. And, in the words of Vernon Forrest, the man who twice beat Mosley, De La Hoya never showed "the commitment" to win the fight.

The fight itself was a tactical one, a chess game played by the two warriors as first one, then the other, posed then parried with De La Hoya carrying the early action and keeping Mosley "at bay" his stated strategy. But Mosley, exhibiting superior hand and foot speed, began to come on in the fourth, countering De La Hoya's jabs with punches of his own, his hands ablur as he moved inside De La Hoya's jab to land punches coming asfastasyoucanreadthis, one time lunging in causing a collision of heads and cutting De La Hoya above the right eye. The most heated exchange of the fight occurred in the fifth as De La Hoya caught Mosley with a solid left and Mosley responded with several hard body shots-the first time De La Hoya had tasted Mosley's power.

De La Hoya was able to reestablish control with his jab in the sixth, constantly leaving it in the face of his ever-pursuing opponent as payment for his efforts to get inside. In the seventh, however, Mosley managed to counter effectively to carry the round. Then it was De La Hoya's turn again in the eighth as the two began to alternate rounds like a defective electrical outlet.

The ninth was to change the entire fight, as Mosley hurt De La Hoya with a solid left, then followed up seconds later with another. For the next three rounds, it was Mosley on the attack and De La Hoya on the retreat as Mosley threw caution and punches to the wind, hurting De La Hoya with solid body shots. De La Hoya was unable to mount a consistent attack or hold off his tormentor as Mosley sprinted after the tiring De La Hoya down the homestretch.

Rather than have you take the opinion of this unhumble writer and others who thought Mosley won (including the likes of Lennox Lewis and Tommy Hearns), or those who thought De La Hoya won (including de La Hoya himself, his promoter, Bob Arum and the HBO announcing crew) why don't you watch the fight again this Saturday night and judge for yourself?

Whichever way you judge the fight, remember that controversy is to boxing what garlic is to salad - it livens things up.