I dont understand how people said Oscar De La Hoya was past his prime when he fought mayweather...?

Question

He was only 33 when the fight happened and Mayweather was 30. How does that even make sense? Shouldn't one be in his prime at that age?

Answer 1

Oscar was two months shy of 34 when he and Mayweather fought, and that's pushing it for a fighter in the lower weight classes.  The sub-middleweights depend more on speed and quickness than the big guys do and they can't stay at their peaks as long.

Oscar's age was not an excuse for him (not that he tried to make it one).  He has a long history of fading late in fights, as he did against Tito Trinidad and Shane Mosley.  Besides, Floyd moved up in weight to fight for Oscar's title, and many felt he was at his best as a junior welterweight.

Floyd was very much in his prime when he met Oscar.  

I love Oscar (most fight fans do), but it's hard to make a case that he would have beaten Floyd when both men were in their prime.

Answer 2

33 is kinda old for boxers, but mayweather was 30 and how much can 3 years affect one bout anyway.

Mayweather is amazing, but he's retiring now

Answer 3

oscar delahoya a descent fighter but he is way overated always has been

Answer 4

It depends on who the boxer is.  Some fighters are "shot" by the time they are in their early 30's, while others can go strong into their late 30's or early 40's.  Oscar De La Hoya has been VERY inactive in recent years.  In the last 4 years, he has only had 5 fights and he lost two of those fights (Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.)  You could make an argument that the inactivity was not such a bad thing because he was well-rested, but you could make the argument that it was a bad thing because he was rusty before the Mayweather fight because in his previous fight, he beat Ricardo Mayorga, which honestly was the same as working a speed bag.  I don't want to slate Oscar because the man has made almost every single match that we have wanted to see him in, but I'm not really sure if he would have beaten Floyd even if it was the Oscar of a few years ago.  Oscar's reflexes, speed and timing were just a bit off, so he probably was a little bit past his prime, but Floyd was also at a disadvantage because he was fighting at junior middleweight for the first (and only) time in his career.  Plus, Mayweather has always had great defense, which would have always given Oscar trouble.  Most would say that Oscar was past his prime when they fought, but you could really make a legitimate argument for BOTH cases, which is what I tried to do.

Answer 5

A boxer's prime depends on the boxer not an age.

De La Hoya has had a miserable record since 2000.

Of his wins, none have been against a quality opponent and (sorry Gatti was shot when he fought ODLH), and he has lost EVERY big fight since 2000.