COMPUBOX POST-FIGHT ANALYSIS

by Bob Canobbio

The World Awaited...and the world received a better fight than many expected.

No, it wasn't Hagler-Hearns or Gatti-Ward I, but it wasn't the technical chess match that many feared it could have been either.

The fight was competitive because for the most part, De La Hoya carried the action. As expected, Oscar was the busier fighter. He threw more total punches than Floyd in eighth of the twelve rounds, with one round even. He threw 587 total punches, landing 122 (21%) to 207 of 481 (43%) for the pot shotting Mayweather. Floyd landed 57% of his power shots (non-jabs), landing 138 of 241 to 82 of 341 (24%) for Oscar. That's the same percentage of power shots Shane Mosley landed vs. Oscar in their first fight.

Many of Floyd's power shots landed flush, while the majority of Oscar's glanced off the elusive Mayweather's head and body. Even though he was landing just one of every five punches he attempted, Oscar was bringing the fight to Floyd. The fans cheered his every flurry, and judge Tom Kaczmarek (115-113) gave him the fight. Chuck Giampa had it 116-112 Floyd, while Jerry Roth scored it 115-113 Floyd. Had Roth given Oscar the last round, the fight's a draw and Oscar retains his title. In that last round, Oscar threw a fight-high 82 total punches, landing just 12 (15%), while Floyd went 25 of 54 (46%).

The fight was Oscar's to lose after nine rounds. He led 86-85 on two cards. Floyd led 87-84 on the third card.

What went wrong? Oscar didn't fade in terms of punch output, but lost the ability to throw an effective jab. He couldn't plant his feet to get any mustard on his punches, especially the jab. He averaged 19 jabs thrown and five landed (26%) over the first seven rounds, then landed an average of just 4 of 30 jabs (13%) in rounds eight thru twelve. The jab became more of a range finder than a scoring tool. In fact, over the last three rounds, Oscar landed just 4 of 77 jabs (5%). Roth gave Floyd the last three rounds, while Giampa gave 10 & 11 to Floyd. As a result, Mayweather landed 17 (of 25) power shots in round eleven and 18 (of 36) in round twelve, his highest number of power shots landed other than round five, when he landed 21 (of 37).

Did somebody say rematch? Oscar's fans certainly thought he won (as did Kaczmarek). Many respected ringsiders scored it a draw, so why not? The decision's in Oscar's hands. Can he get himself motivated one more time? He's at least $30 million richer. That moola buys lots of silk pajamas, and we all know what Marvin Hagler said later in his career about wearing silk pj's. (see the CompuBox analysis if you don't). Oscar's got a tough decision to make. He's never walked away from the "Big Fight", but he has to ask himself what can he do differently the second time around. Mayweather fought as well as he could and would fight the same fight again, that's all he knows. The ball's in Oscar's court...the world again awaits.