Do you think ODLH lived up to his full potential?

Not far off he's full potential imo. Would've liked to see a prime De la Hoya v Mayweather..I think he takes it. I think he always faded down the stretch though. I wonder was he training as hard as he could, because it was a flaw that cost him his biggest fights. With gas in the tank he was better than anyone he ever fought imo skill wise

 

He would have been better off staying with Jesus Rivero; that man was making Oscar his masterpiece. He understood the attributes of the fighter. But he was replaced with "name" trainers and Emmanuel Steward and Gil Clancy destroyed his work of art.

 

De la Hoya reached his potential and his ledger of names is probably the deepest resume in years. If anything the one thing that held him back was an average gas tank. He tired a lot down the stretch. I agree with an above poster I think he takes Mayweather at his best. Win or lose Oscar stepped in with everyone hard not to like that. One of my favorite fighters.

 

I agree with this word for word.

 

He probably affected his longevity with substance abuse and lost two big fights due to strategy issues. The first Mosely fight and the Trinidad fight were completely winable. I thought he beat Tito, but he could've done more to take it out of the judges hands. He couldve performed better agaunst Sturm too. So no, he didn't fulfill his potential.

 

What was truly his full potential is the question that I ask.

 

I think had he stayed with one trainer he would have been greater. He was a helluva fighter and certainly reached his potential financially but in a pure boxing sense I think he fell a little short. He seemed to have an identity crisis in the ring. He didn't blend boxing/slugging that well. It went from one extreme to another.

 

Sometimes it comes down to timing. I would have loved to see him fighting a younger Chavez, and having been younger when he fought Mayweather and Pacquiao. Would have been three fights for the ages - I think he would have lost the first against Chavez, beaten Mayweather and Pacquiao....who knows...

 

I concur. At the end of the day he did a helluva lot. One of the greats, surely.

 

Couldn't have put it better. He took on more or less all the big names of the era. He did tend to tire down the stretch but the guy had heart. Prefer him over Floyd any day.

 

He could have achieved more in the sense that he wasn't as tactically flawless as PBF was in almost every fight, and his performance against Hopkins was a bit of a letdown in terms of dedication.

But even extremely consistent fighters like PBF, Hopkins and Hagler had their off nights. DLH wasn't too far off them in terms of consistency, and, perhaps more importantly, he made the big fights happen. So in any realistic sense, yes, he fulfilled his potential or at the very least came close enough for it to be satisfying.

 

Tactically he always made mistakes and had to make things closer than necessary.

Identity crisis during fights.

 

No, just 95% of it.

 

I'd have to say no. He got caught between styles too much. He could've beaten everyone he lost to, except Hopkins. At the top boxing iq is important.