| 15 April 2007
- Oscar Dela Hoya: Has seen and done it all. Olympian, multiple weight class champion, has been a part of numerous mega fights that could go down as the fights of their respective years. In the act of 'doing it all', to his credit he's faced some of the best in his era. Unfortunately for him, he hasn't always come out on top. Against the three men who will undoubtedly go down as legends in his era, (Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, and Tito Trinidad), he's a combined 0-4. What would another loss do for what appears to be a Hall of Fame worthy career? Can Oscar really afford another loss to another great and not take a huge dent in his "Goldenboy" armor? The harshest critics of "Iron" Mike Tyson have no true argument about his career except this one major thing and it's validity is right on point. How good can you really classify someone who lost against all of the future Hall of Famers they faced? I'll leave that for the historians, the Bert Sugar's and the throwback educators of the Boxing world. I can't answer it myself but one thing for sure, if Oscar Dela Hoya does slip into the Hall after going 0 for 5 against the best of his era we might as well throw anyone in there because that will validate a popular theory that there is nothing necessary for selection but a name that was able to draw cheeks in the seats.
- Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Has emerged as one of the greatest in a long time due to his unheralded total package. Has a very 'cat-like' quickness, relatively good power, awesome footwork, a very retro styled defense, with a very innate ability to put all these things together. He seems to have it all but there's only one issue...Who's he really beaten? Diego Corrales was a trooper but his ability is to a degree limited when compared to actual legends of today's era. Jose Luis Castillo put up a great fight against PBF in their first bout but he would fall into the same category as Corrales. Zab Judah, make that three in that category. It's easy to look at Mayweather's past opponents and say that he's never really beaten anyone but at some point you have to stop and ask yourself how much of it is his opponents being B-class fighters, and how much has to do with the fact that his talent could be so far more superior that he simply makes these possible A-class fighters appear to be at the sub B-level? That's a debate we can have all day long but until he actually defeats a true future Hall of Famer, the question remains. Which, in regards to this matchup is sort of contradictory because we've already established that with a loss, ODH is nothing other than a big marketing name in the world of Boxing so if PBF does win, technically it may not be enough in the eyes of the critics to put him over the hump.
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