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Like Roberto Duran against Sugar Ray Leonard
in 1980, former lightweight champion Sugar Shane Mosley
successfully moved up two weight classes to defeat former Olympic
gold medalist Oscar de la Hoya to win the welterweight title.
Before a star studded crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles,
unlike Duran, Sugar Shane Mosley fought as a boxer, and gambled on
winning a decision. The fight was Puncher vs. Boxer, with
the puncher winning the first half of the fight, but fading to
allow the boxer to win late.
When Shane Mosley was first seen approaching the ring, he was
roundly booed
by the fans. In the city of stars, Shane is an outsider.
Like the multitude of celebrities seated at ringside (Jack
Nicholson, Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, Denzel Washington, Mark
McGwire, Kobe Bryant, and Muhammad Ali, to name a few) Oscar de la
Hoya is a mega star, an insider In stark contrast to the
Mosley reception, the crowd vociferously cheered for Oscar the
entire time it took for a video montage to be shown and his ring
walk to be completed. By the end of the fight, the crowd had
turned, cheering for Mosley and the decision.
Although Mosley was aggressive in winning the first round, de la
Hoya's speed and strength quickly earned Mosley's respect in the
second, and the pattern of the fight took shape: Oscar as
power stalker and Mosley constantly circling and giving room,
flicking jabs and choosing his spots to charge in with right hands
and occasional body shots and left hooks.
Through the sixth round, the momentum was in Oscar's favor, and
the title of
this article was going to be "Good Big Man Beats Good Little
Man." Oscar
was not dominant, but the style of the fight was to his liking.
Shane was cautious of Oscar's counter punching in close, having
tasted some good body shots and a wicked right uppercut in the
third. Shane didn't want to take too many risks against the
power puncher, limiting his usually high punch output. Yet,
he was also at a disadvantage from the outside because of Oscar's
height, reach, and solid defense.
However, beginning in the seventh round, Oscar's pressure and
punch output
gradually began to wane. Shane didn't necessarily pick up
the pace, but began to find more openings. Oscar slowed
because he relied on too much power punching early and also
because a few body shots from Shane Mosley have always taken a
toll on his opponents. If Oscar had kept up the pace, he
likely would have won. Nevertheless, the stylistic gamble
worked. Shane used distance, speed and timing to pick up
points. Oscar could not get a good rhythm going because
Shane was almost always just out of range and de
la Hoya, like Mosley, couldn't risk charging in too much against a
quick fighter with good power. The rounds were close, but
Mosley was doing a bit more.
In the eighth round, Mosley turned southpaw and convincingly won
the round
in Pernell Whitaker-like style. Mosley was exploiting
Oscar's vulnerability against quick southpaws revealed by Whitaker
years ago. The ninth round was
the best of the fight up to that point, with both boxers landing
hard shots and taking risks, but again with Mosley edging the
round. By the tenth, the crowd was chanting Mosley's name,
pulling for the underdog. De la Hoya was coming forward, but
was showing signs of fatigue, unable to keep up with Mosley's
guerilla warfare.
Both men attempted to close the show in the twelfth and most
vigorously
combative round, but Mosley's punches landed more cleanly and with
more speed and authority, appearing to stun de la Hoya a bit.
The crowd went wild as they sensed Mosley would perhaps steal it.
Oscar gave it his best, but Mosley had a bit more left in the tank
at that point. Judge Marty Sammon scored it 115-113 for de
la Hoya, but was overruled by Lou Filippo, 116-112 and Pat
Russell, 115-113. I scored it 116-113 for Mosley. The
question is, can de la Hoya, like Ray Leonard, make adjustments
and win the rematch, and conversely, can Shane repeat or improve
upon his performance? Don't expect a "No Mas" from
Shane.
On the undercard:
Shannon Taylor won a unanimous ten round decision against
survivalist Charles Whitaker. Mia St. John won a unanimous
four round decision over Linda Robinson, whose footwork kept her
in the fight. Diego Corrales stopped Justin Juuko in the
tenth round with a solid right hand. The tough Juuko landed
hard punches, but Corrales's good chin, excellent body punching
and powerful combinations eventually wore his man down in Arguello-like
fashion. Butterbean was the first fighter to receive loud
cheers from the crowd, as he stopped a 2-1 fighter in Kerry Biles.
How is it that a fighter with three fights can be licensed to
fight a fighter with over fifty fights? This is as
close to wrestling as boxing comes, but the crowd loved it, so I
suppose money talks. Erik Morales looked good at
featherweight in stopping game but overmatched Mike Juarez in
three.
Young Prospects Turn Pro
At the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California, Steven Luevano
and
Marshall Martinez, two local prospects, made their professional
debuts.
Junior lightweight Steven Luevano of La Puente, runner-up in the
Olympic
Box-Offs, stopped Hugo Rosales (1-2, 1ko) in the second round.
Southpaw
Luevano utilized quick clean combinations and a good straight left
throughout. The referee stopped the bout following a strong
right uppercut.
Although Luevano looked excellent as
an aggressor, he noted that he
prefers his opponents to come to him so he can use quick
counterpunches to
neutralize their strength. Experiencing professional rules
for the first time, Luevano commented hat he felt his defense was
better without the headgear impeding his peripheral vision.
Defense is something he will be able to develop further now that
he is no longer constrained by the amateur rules which prevent a
boxer from ducking low with the head.
Lightweight Marshall Martinez of Fontana, this year's Olympic
Box-Offs champion, had a much stiffer test against tough and slick
Armen Kalagian (0-1-1). Martinez appeared undaunted by the
new experience, walking in on
Kalagian with his hands down and without jabbing, in utter disdain
for his
opponent. However, when both fighters exchanged simultaneous
right hands in
the first round, Kalagian landed his and followed with an elbow
which broke
Martinez's nose and opened a gash. Martinez bled profusely,
but maintained
his composure, using quick rights and hooks to outwork his tough
opponent
and earn a unanimous four round decision. Martinez would be
well served to
utilize his jab, uppercut, and body punches, all of which were
lacking. However, under the circumstances, Martinez showed
grit and determination, and may have found it difficult to adjust
given that he was streaming red from his broken nose throughout.
Also on the card, lightweight Terrence Churchwell (17-0, 13 ko's)
dominated
experienced Javier Lucas (45-16, 39 ko's) with fast right hands
and left hooks, soundly dropping Lucas twice with sharp right
hands in the first round. However, the first round stoppage
was a bit precipitous as Lucas was not afforded the benefit of a
count. Bantamweight Jorge LaCiervia (16-3-3, 11 ko's)
stopped tough Carlitos Hernandez (14-6-1, 5 ko's) via TKO 9 when
Hernandez retired in the corner. The bout was competitive
and laden with
foul tactics.
Stevie Johnston (30-2, 15 ko's) lost his WBC lightweight
title to Jose Luis
Castillo (41-4, 37 ko's) on a majority twelve round decision.
The crowd
strongly cheered for Castillo throughout, and shouted obscenities
in Spanish
at referee Chuck Hassett after a point was properly deducted from
Castillo
for holding in the fourth round. The fight took place mostly
in close, with
neither fighter impressive. The judges had it 116-111
Castillo, 115-113 Castillo, and 114-114. I scored it 116-113
for Johnston.
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