The top boxing news story this week was Oscar De La Hoya’s retirement announcement. It’s major news when 
the greatest ticket seller that the sport has ever seen calls it quits. His fans, often referred to as "golden boys and girls" shed tears, HBO’s boxing brass continues its search for an heir apparent, and hungry contenders helplessly watch their dreams of fighting De La Hoya disappear. Simply put, De La Hoya will be missed.
However, what legacy has he left in the ring? At best, De La Hoya will be viewed as a man who competed at a high level in six different weight classes (capturing 10 titles, some of the alphabelt variety) and took on the best fighters of his generation. At worst, he will be viewed as a guy who rarely won his biggest fights and went out as a quitter (on his stool against Manny Pacquiao). I view him somewhere in between. Here’s why.
The Hits. De La Hoya’s best wins came against two all-time greats in Julio Cesar Chavez (2x) and Pernell "Sweat Pea" Whitaker, and two former champions, Ike Quartey and Fernando Vargas. On the plus side, Oscar can legitimately say that he defeated two Hall of Famer fighters during his career as well as two "at or near-their-prime" titlists in unification bouts. The downside is that both Chavez and Whitaker were "past-their-primes," some felt that "Sweet Pea" actually beat De La Hoya (present company included), Vargas was perceived by many to be a shot fighter after his loss to Felix "Tito" Trinidad, and many believed (present company not included) that he was edged by Quartey in their bout.
The Misses. Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley (2x), Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao represent the "what if" part of De La Hoya’s career. If he had defeated them, we’d be talking about him as one of the top ten boxers of all time. Although he lost to them all, he must be credited for taking on such a challenging list of opponents. Two of these losses are debatable. His disappointing loss to Trinidad was a highly questionable decision. Despite his shameless running in the late rounds of that fight, he clearly out-boxed Trinidad for 2/3 of that fight. He also appeared to do enough in his second loss to Mosley.
Losing to Hopkins and Pacquiao is no shame. However, the manner in which he lost has greatly damaged his reputation. In the Hopkins fight, I felt that he succumbed to Hopkins’s physical pressure and was more than content to let that liver shot close the show. In his weight-drained loss to the PacMan, he quit on his stool. This one cuts deepest.
Although contemporaries like Roy Jones, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Bernard Hopkins, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Felix Trinidad accomplished more in the ring, no fighter since Mike Tyson was able to grab the attention of general sports fans the way that De La Hoya did. He took the pretty boy thing started by Sugar Ray Robinson, perfected by Muhammad Ali, and refined by Sugar Ray Leonard to the next level to become boxing’s most bankable star ever. And oh yeah, he had one great left hook.
No matter what you think about Oscar De La Hoya, you can not deny that he has helped keep boxing relevant in an age dominated by football, baseball and other combat sports like mixed martial arts. Can boxing survive without its Golden Goose? Yes, as long as it does not try to find the next Golden Boy. To quote Yoda in the second installment of Star Wars, "There is (will be) another." There always is.
If DeLaHoya did anything, he kept boxing “popular” by pulling more than his share of the load thru the 90s and 00’s when other fights were never made or made past-prime (like Tyson-Lewis) or were duds (Lewis-Holyfield).
He was always somewhere in the background of the yearly schedule, preparing for another big-time showcase of himself and another fighter. And in hindsight, let’s remember, everyeone thought guys like Tito and Vargas would beat his ass. Tito looked completely lost for 9 rounds and Vargas even with the aid of steroids.
For the most part, he came to fight, and while I think he faked it in the Hopkins fight, his most recent outing against Pacman earns him a pass in my book…he is getting older, has dozens of fights (including numerous ‘big ones’) in which he took a pounding…his body and spirit gave out on that stool and the longer you fight, the more likely that happens.
Oscar was a “very good” fighter (not “Great” in my view), but his legacy can only be defined as “great”. Personally for me, although never the biggest fan (and sometimes rooting against him), his retirement closes a chapter in my boxing fan “career”. I claim him as from my “era” as a fan and I am sad to see that time has moved forward and some of the best fighters from the 90s and 00’s are no longer in the ring.
2009, indeed.
Amen to that – well said KentuckyCelt.
I would only amend my statement by saying that Oscar may have been a slight favorite against the “juiced-up Vargas (which probably hurt Vargas in that fight ultimately). And although he befuddled Tito Trinidad for much of the fight, that fight was generally boring and the way he got on the bicycle woulda made Lance Armstrong envious. But, in general, Oscar did right by the sport.
All of Oscar’s accomplishments were heavily tarnished when he quit sitting down. Years from now, he will be remembered as a great fighter and a better businessman. But right NOW, when I talk to boxing fans at matches and at events, they all agree that DLH’s greatness was diminished by throwing in the towel.
Give it some time and these same fans will be erecting bridges in his honor…
Some sad truths to what you are saying Gabriel…last I checked though, they already have a statue in front of the Staples Center of him!
Yes, you are right, the statue is there, but that was not put up by the fans (but it does seem out of place, doesn’t it? I mean how many times did DLH actually fight at the Staples Center?) And according to Bill Plaschke of the LA Times, it was just a deal by AEG and Golden Boy (http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/02/sports/sp-plaschke2)
This January, I was at the sold out Mosley fight. When the announcer went through his routine ‘in attendance’ spiel, the crowd reacted positively to each celebrity in the house. When he got to Oscar, the response was deafening. I have NEVER heard such overwhelming negative boos as I did that day.
After the fight, I met many fans at an impromptu after party. Fans from LA, northern CA, across the country and even some British fans that flew in for the fight. Everyone one spoke negatively about DLH throwing in the towel. Mexican boxers don’t do that. You might as well hand in your street-credentials while you’re at it.
One fan told me how on the night that DLH quit, the Staples people had to temporarily protect the DLH statue because of the many rough-necks that made their way to the statue that night. According to him, the mob was going to take down the statue one way or the other. Security he claims, saved the day by temporarily taking it down.
I have not been able to confirm the story because no one seems to have written about it.
BTW, I don’t know if you get told this enough, so I will say it again: I love your blog! You are one of the reasons why I love boxing! If you are ever in LA for a fight let me know, I’d love to talk boxing with you (at a fight, of course!)
Damn man, that’s one helluva story if it’s true regarding the thugs and statue. haha I do remember the booing though, and sitting it out was indeed NOT A GOOD LOOK for a Mexican, Russian or whomever, but I hear you. Thanks for the props…and if I ever head out West, I’ll give you a shout “fo sho.”