After just watching the replay of the crime… er, fight… against Oscar de la Hoya at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, there is no doubt in my mind that Pac-Man should have been hauled into the local jail for how badly he decimated his opponent.
You know, it’s one thing if you were watching a popular, future Hall of Fame athlete go down valiantly in the throes of defeat. If some flashes of the physical prowess that allowed him or her to become one of the all time greats are still evident in that performance, then at least you could walk away knowing that the game did not completely pass him or her by.
Yet, in brutally physical sports such as football, boxing or mixed martial arts (as it’s now old enough to have a history), the greats rarely, if ever, look as their former selves. De La Hoya looked not only every part of his 35 years of age against Pacquiao, but he looked like a reluctant amateur who just took up boxing as a workout instead of serious business.
De La Hoya looked like Johnny Unitas in a San Diego Chargers uniform, Willie Mays as a New York Met, Emmitt Smith as an Arizona Cardinal. Or for those born in the last few months, Randy Couture not too long ago.
While De La Hoya had been considered more of a face than a fighter throughout his career, once upon a time, he was a boxer with world-class speed and an effective lead jab. He once moved on his feet with the likes of champion welterweights like Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad and Shane Moseley.
Suddenly, Pacquiao was Travis Coates in the sport’s latest episode of Old Yeller.
Ouch.
2 comments:
Jason,
No doubt. I just watched the same replay you did. Sad, sad, sad.
Oscar's greatness cannot be argued, but this is one fight he never should have taken. Pacquaio savaged him for the entire fight.
While I have yet to see Joe Calzaghe's destruction of Roy Jones Jr., I'm curious to know which you thought was more brutal: Oscar's performance, RJ's or Kelly Pavlik's beating from Bernard Hopkins in October?
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