Oscar Night

By Frank Price, sports consultant

The fight was great although some people didn't appreciate Oscar's performance. He hit Gonzalez at will, and his jab was wicked. It popped Gonzalez's head back like a straight right. Oscar was very accurate with the left jab. Also with left hooks. He hurt Gonzalez several times with left hooks, both to the body and head. De La Hoya did not use his right much, as Gonzalez stayed away from it, and that was the only punch he defensed well. Throughout the fight it seemed as if Oscar could take it to Gonzalez at will. In the middle rounds, Gonzalez hit Oscar with a hard right that raised a welt under Oscar's left eye. Oscar then stayed away from Gonzalez's right in order to avoid suffering cut. All in all, I felt Oscar De La Hoya gave a masterful performance.

On the undercard, Michael Carbajal looked like he'd lost a step or was not ready for Pastrana. Carbajal was rocked by a short right in the third -- he stepped into it -- and barely made it through the round. Michael was not the same for the balance of the match. Mauricio Pastrana took it to Michael over the remaing rounds. Pastrana was the man with more heart and determination. Although it was a split decision, I felt all three cards should have been for Pastrana, but that's boxing for you.

The bout between Kostya Tsayu and Leonardo Mas ended in a "technical draw." Mas was down twice and it seemed he was ready for a "no mas" himself, when he was hit by an unintentional elbow as Kostya finished throwing an overhand right. As Mas went down, Kostya also hit him with a left hook that dislocated Mas's right jaw. That was the punch that hurt Mas. But the ref did not see it and it was ruled that the elbow from the right was the culprit. If that punch did the damage, the other side of his jaw would have been dislocated. Kostya deserved to win and I doubt that Mas would want a rematch. After the first knockdown he had the look of a "deer in headlights."

And, last but not least, there was the Butterbean. His opponent looked like a smaller Marc Gastineau. Very clumsy with his chin facing the stars. Curt Allan needs to find another profession. It was stopped in the third by the referee Jay Nady, with another win for Eric "Butterbean" Esch.