COMPUBOX POST-FIGHT ANALYSIS:
OSCAR DE LA HOYA KO 6 RICARDO MAYORGA

May 9, 2006
- by Bob Canobbio/Compubox

Memo to any future Oscar De La Hoya opponents...

Don't piss off The Golden Boy. No need to insult his manhood, his wife or new born son. Compliment him on his wardrobe or the great job he's done with Golden Boy Promotions. Kill him with kindness, don't get under his skin like Ricardo Mayorga so effectively did throughout the promotion.

Mayorga continued his verbal assault right up to the opening bell, telling De La Hoya that he (Mayorga) weighs 172 lbs and he was about to knock Oscar out. Then the trash talking stopped and the fight began. One minute later, Mayorga was on the canvas, courtesy of a picture-perfect delaHoya left hook, set up a a jab, right hand combination. El Matador made it out of the round, but Oscar sent him a clear message: I'm not backing down from the bully.

De La Hoya then began to find the range with his jab vs. the wild-swinging Mayorga, landing an average of 11 of 22 in rounds two thru five, including 14 of 22 (64%) in the second and 13 of 20 (65%) in the third. Mayorga had his moments in rounds three (13 of 38 power shots) and four (14 of 39 power shots), landing to De La Hoya's body and the back of his head, drawing boos from the nearly sold out MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Oscar had a big fifth round, landing 26 of 54 total punches (48%), including 16 of 31 power shots (52%). Mayorga managed just 7 total connects among his 63 attempts.

Early in round six another short left hook hurt Mayorga before a combination sent him to one knee. A barrage of De La Hoya lefts and rights (13 of 39 power shots) followed as referee Jay Nady rescued the beaten street fighter from any further punishment at 1:25 of the sixth. He was now free to smoke and drink to his heart's content.

Overall, delaHoya landed 116 of 264 total punches (44%) to just 58 of 333 (17%) for Mayorga. Oscar's jab (48 of 108- 44%) was used effectively to set up his effective (and often underused right hand) and patented left hook. He landed 68 of 156 power shots (44%) to 52 of 197 (26%) for Mayorga, who landed just 4 of 136 (4%) jabs. He wasn't going to get away with just walking down a fighter of De La Hoya's caliber without first landing his jab. It worked vs. Vernon Forrest in their first fight, but as Oscar said in a pre-fight interview, he's no Vernon Forrest.

What's next for Oscar? Coming off his thrilling and very fulfilling ko win over Mayorga, surely the 33-year old delaHoya feels he has one more productive "big fight" left in the tank. However, it was revealed on Monday that he entered the fight with a partial tear in the rotator cuff of his left shoulder and he also suffered a torn muscle in his left forearm during the fight. Enough time to heal by the September 16th target date for his grand finale? A fight vs. pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather would break the bank, however Oscar's trained by Floyd, Sr., who wants no part of a De La Hoya-Mayweather showdown. Maybe Don King can drag Tito Trinidad out of retirement for a rematch with Oscar, who he controversially decisioned in 1999. One problem - Tito's a middleweight now, while Oscar said 154 lbs. is his limit. That, plus Tito's coming off a shutout loss to Winky Wright and would be advised to take a tuneup before getting in the ring with Oscar. Oscar's no fool, he's got his health, his family and a very successful and expanding promotional company. Who would fault him if he chose to ride into the sunset on the heels of his dominating performance vs. Mayorga?