Floyd Mayweather’s Hardest Fight
It speaks to the overall dominance of Floyd Mayweather Jr. as a fighter that while compiling a record of 41-0 against the top fighters in his generation, only one of his fights have ended in something other than a stoppage, knockout or unanimous decision. Even when a fighter is able to go the distance against Mayweather Jr., chances are this merely means that they have survived long enough to hear a lopsided decision and see Mayweather Jr.’s hand raised in victory.
While Mayweather Jr. has rarely had to sweat out the results of a decision at the end of a fight, there has been one exception to that rule in his career. That came on May 5, 2007 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, when he earned a split decision victory over Oscar De La Hoya. The fight was hyped with the promotional tagline “The World Awaits” and for once a bout delivered on the hype, eventually being named the “Event of the Year” by Ring Magazine.
Coming into the fight, fans were divided on who was the more accomplished boxer: Mayweather Jr. or De La Hoya. Both fighters had impressive amateur backgrounds and were Olympic medalists who had parlayed their amateur careers into professional success. Mayweather Jr. was the reigning WBC welterweight champion, having defeated Carlos Manuel Baldomir for the belt in November 2006; meanwhile, De La Hoya held the WBC super welterweight crown and had already carved out a Hall of Fame career with victories over elite fighters such as Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker and Felix Trinidad.
There was no question that Mayweather Jr. was the fresher and likely faster fighter. However, there were several factors that led many experts to pick De La Hoya in the contest. The biggest factor was the size difference: Mayweather Jr. would be moving up to super middleweight for the bout, a weight that was natural for the larger De La Hoya. At the final weigh-in, De La Hoya would tip the scales exactly at the 154 pound limit while Mayweather Jr. would be four pounds lighter. Many people felt that De La Hoya would simply wear down the smaller Mayweather Jr. with the power of his punches.
The other factor in De La Hoya’s favor was his experience. There was little question that De La Hoya had fought in other major fights in the past, while Mayweather Jr. was stepping up to unchartered territory. While Mayweather Jr. had fought against some top fighters in the past, the bout against De Le Hoya would be far and away the biggest stage of his career. Some people felt that the cocky Mayweather Jr. was actually hiding fear and that he might freeze under the spotlight; others felt that De La Hoya had more ring savvy and would find a way to do enough to win.
The bout would progress as many people expected - Mayweather Jr. was able to use his speed advantage to outbox and outpunch the larger, slower De La Hoya. Statistics at the end of the bout showed that Mayweather Jr. landed 207 punches through 12 rounds versus 122 for De La Hoya. However, De La Hoya was the heavier hitter, a fact that would weigh heavily with the judges.
The fight wound up coming down to the 12th round. Two of the three judges scored the final round for De La Hoya, as he put on a late surge in an attempt to steal the fight from Mayweather Jr. However, judge Jerry Roth gave the round to Mayweather Jr., which wound up being the difference in the bout. Mayweather Jr. won the fight on two of the three judges’ scorecards, including by two points on Roth’s. If Roth had scored the final round for De La Hoya, the bout would have ended in a draw.
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