BERT SUGAR PRE-FIGHT ANALYSIS

by Bert Sugar

STRENGTHS OF BOTH FIGHTERS

OSCAR DE LA HOYA

- De La Hoya is a taller, bigger, stronger boxer who is fighting at a more natural weight than Mayweather who is moving up from welterweight.

- Has a style which will bother Mayweather. His height and the speed of his jab will make it hard for Floyd to throw right-hand leads, one of Floyd's favorite weapons.

- Oscar has very underrated punching power. Anyone who ever fought him will attest to the fact that he hits very hard, especially with his power punch, his left hook.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.

- Mayweather is a faster boxer who can work at a fast pace the entire fight, all 12 rounds if necessary.

- Possesses blazing hand speed and power in both hands.

- Floyd uses feints to keep his opponent off-balance and always seems to be one step ahead of his opponent's next move with his radar-like instincts.

- Mayweather is a tremendous body puncher with either hand and is extremely accurate inside, especially with hooks, rarely hitting an opponent on the arms or elbows but usually landing to the pit of the stomach or to his opponent's sides.

WEAKNESSES OF BOTH FIGHTERS

DE LA HOYA

- Older at 34 to Mayweather's 30, De La Hoya has been far less active. Fighting with all the frequency of Halley's Comet, just five times in the past four years.

- In fights that he has lost--discounting his questionable loss to Felix Trinidad--Oscar has shown signs of tiring late in the fight, raising the question of his stamina.

- Speed tends to bother Oscar. In his two losses to Sugar Shane Mosley Oscar had difficulty dealing with the speed of Shane's punches. Floyd's even faster than Shane and throws better combinations.

MAYWEATHER

- Floyd has a tendency to fight with his chin up and exposed, a dangerous flaw his speed has thus far covered up.

- He likes to jump in at opponents with power shots leaving himself open coming in.

- Has a habit of pulling his head back and leaning away from punches, causing him to put all his weight on his back foot and making it more difficult for him to move.

WHAT EACH MUST DO TO WIN

DE LA HOYA

- Must fight at long range, his type of fight, not at close range.

- De La Hoya is a turnaround left-hander, fighting in an orthodox stance so that his power hand is closer to his opponent. He must make use of that left hand, doubling and tripling up with his left jab as he did against Mayorga, then doubling his left hook--which will be effective inasmuch as Floyd leans to his right, making him vulnerable to De La Hoya's left hook.

- He cannot afford to let Mayweather set the early pace, but put some of those early rounds in the bank and save himself for the later rounds when the fight will be decided.

MAYWEATHER

- When De La Hoya throws a punch he is up on his toes, giving Mayweather an open target for his body punches, which will slow De La Hoya down and could be telling in the later rounds.

- Mayweather doesn't want to sit back. Because he has faster hands and De La Hoya tends to be bothered by speed, he has to let his hands go.

- Mayweather should use his ring guile, which has him rolling back, almost daring his opponent, who sees him looking as if he's going away, to hit him. Then, when his opponent is off-balance and reaching for him, Floyd will quickly counter, a move which could be very affective versus De La Hoya.