Oscar De La Hoya "The best I fought"

[PhillyPhan69]

Best fighter: Julio Cesar Chavez -- He had it all. He could box, he could punch, he had an iron chin. And he had guts. He had the whole package. He wasn’t 25 when he fought me but he was still an elite fighter.

Best boxer: Pernell Whitaker -- He was very elusive, very hard to hit. He was very slippery.

Best puncher: Arturo Gatti. -- This kid, may he rest in peace, didn’t catch me flush on the chin but his punches were so heavy, heavier than Ike Quartey’s. I don’t know what he had in his hands.

Quickest hands: Manny Pacquiao -- His punches don’t come from your basic boxing style; they come from all sorts of weird angles. That’s what makes him difficult.

Quickest feet: Pernell Whitaker -- He was very elusive. He could spin you around and not exert much energy doing it. He did it with ease. It was so natural to him. Footwork starts everything.

Best defense: Pernell Whitaker -- Again, he was slippery, elusive. It was hard to crack that defense.

Best chin: Julio Cesar Chavez -- I hit him with some shots. In our second fight, I said to myself, “My gosh. How can he not go down?”

Best jab: Ike Quartey -- He had an incredible jab. The special thing about it was that he threw it from his chin or sometimes he would leave it loose in the air. You wouldn’t notice him throwing it. His jab was very powerful, one of his best weapons. And when it landed, it really hurt. It didn’t sting; it hurt. Like a hammer coming down on you.

Strongest: Fernando Vargas -- He just felt strong. It was so hard to handle him. I felt his weight. His punches were heavy and strong. He was solid. We all know what happened there, though: He had a little help.

Smartest: Bernard Hopkins -- He is the type of fighter who gets in your head. For our press tour, he was always polite, very nice. No trash talk, no nothing. After the fight, I realized: He did that because he didn’t want me to fight angry, to try to take his head off. At the time I fought him, he didn’t like pressure from his opponent because he didn’t like fighting the whole three minutes. He is one smart cookie.

[PowerPuncher]

Gatti a better puncher than Trinidad? Hmmm

Originally Posted by PhillyPhan69

Smartest: Bernard Hopkins -- He is the type of fighter who gets in your head. For our press tour, he was always polite, very nice. No trash talk, no nothing. After the fight, I realized: He did that because he didn’t want me to fight angry, to try to take his head off. At the time I fought him, he didn’t like pressure from his opponent because he didn’t like fighting the whole three minutes. He is one smart cookie.

Unlike yourself Oscar

[Bokaj]

Interesting.Thanks.

No surprise really that the one he rates as the best is among those he beat most clearly. It could well be honestly meant, of course - everything he says about Chavez is true (well - him quitting in the rematch doesn't seem like the gutsiest move, but it's always hard to judge when you don't fully know his condition and extent of injuries when he took the decision).

[turbotime]

Very cool. Look at the list of fighters he just listed that he fought What a man.

[PowerPuncher]

Originally Posted by Bokaj

Interesting.Thanks.

No surprise really that the one he rates as the best is among those he beat most clearly. It could well be honestly meant, of course - everything he says about Chavez is true (well - him quitting in the rematch doesn't seem like the gutsiest move, but it's always hard to judge when you don't fully know his condition and extent of injuries when he took the decision).

I think it's as much saying things in the spur of the moment and saying what people want to hear. He certainly didn't beat Whitaker/Quartey that cleanly

I think the high rating of Gatti was probably in line with 'It's a sad thing he died, I'll give him a high rating out of respect'

[turbotime]

Originally Posted by Bokaj

Interesting.Thanks.

No surprise really that the one he rates as the best is among those he beat most clearly. It could well be honestly meant, of course - everything he says about Chavez is true (well - him quitting in the rematch doesn't seem like the gutsiest move, but it's always hard to judge when you don't fully know his condition and extent of injuries when he took the decision).

I tend to think Mosley was the best "Fighter" Oscar had fought, even though Shane was on the steroids when he was fighting him.

[Bokaj]

Originally Posted by PowerPuncher

I think it's as much saying things in the spur of the moment and saying what people want to hear. He certainly didn't beat Whitaker/Quartey that cleanly

And that could be why Chavez is named as the best and not Pea. That's the usual pattern among fighters anyhow. To praise the ones they dominated.

[PhillyPhan69]

Originally Posted by Bokaj

And that could be why Chavez is named as the best and not Pea. That's the usual pattern among fighters anyhow. To praise the ones they dominated.

Maybe I am mistaken, but I did not read and understand it the way you and PP did. I didn't read it as a slight on Pea, and/or giving undo credit towards Chavez...but I could be wrong, lord knows it won't be the first or the last time.

I veiwed it as Oscar saying chavez was the best or greatest fighter he got in the ring with, while Pea's style was more in the mold of skillful boxer rather than the typical come forward fighter. I felt like he was giving each one of them equal credit in their respective styles....for me greates/best boxer is just as high of a compliment if not higher than greatest fighter...But perhaps I am the only one reading it that way???

[PhillyPhan69]

Originally Posted by PowerPuncher

I think it's as much saying things in the spur of the moment and saying what people want to hear. He certainly didn't beat Whitaker/Quartey that cleanly

I think the high rating of Gatti was probably in line with 'It's a sad thing he died, I'll give him a high rating out of respect'

The Gatti one is the one I struggled with personally. I am also not sure whether it was a mere token comment to a fallen warrior...I was excpecting Tito, who Oscar does not seem to refrence at all....not sure if he has little respect for tito, bitterness over the loss or if he just does not think as highly of him as the others he listed???

[PowerPuncher]

Originally Posted by turbotime

I tend to think Mosley was the best "Fighter" Oscar had fought, even though Shane was on the steroids when he was fighting him.

Shane wasn't with Balco in the first fight

[PowerPuncher]

Originally Posted by Bokaj

And that could be why Chavez is named as the best and not Pea. That's the usual pattern among fighters anyhow. To praise the ones they dominated.

I think it's how you define 'fighter' and 'boxer'. Many would consider fighter someone who'd stick in the pocket and give you a war. Still at that stage Chavez wasn't really doing that

[turbotime]

Originally Posted by PowerPuncher

Shane wasn't with Balco in the first fight

Why wouldn't he have been?

[hookfromhell]

Ive seen this interview in ring magazine, very cool.
Oscar always desired to fight the best, no matter
what. A true champ. My personal favorite oscar
Moment is the 11th round of the vargas fight.

[Robbi]

Originally Posted by PhillyPhan69

The Gatti one is the one I struggled with personally. I am also not sure whether it was a mere token comment to a fallen warrior...I was excpecting Tito, who Oscar does not seem to refrence at all....not sure if he has little respect for tito, bitterness over the loss or if he just does not think as highly of him as the others he listed???

I don't know if sound goes by weight of impact. But Gatti did hit Oscar with a left hook that was louder than any impact punch being landed on Oscar that I can remember.

[MagnaNasakki]

Originally Posted by Robbi

I don't know if sound goes by weight of impact. But Gatti did hit Oscar with a left hook that was louder than any impact punch being landed on Oscar that I can remember.

Gatti hit De La Hoya with an absolute haymaker.

Way, way more solid than anything Trinidad caught him with. It was the only punch Arturo hit Oscar with that meant anything, but I have no trouble believing that Oscar still remembers that particular shot.