What? No mention of Mayweather? http://www.ringtv.com/blog/1007/de_la_hoya_blog_the_best_i_fought/ Oscar De La Hoya fought many of the best fighters in the world during his 16-year professional career. In his blog this week, he lists the best he faced in 10 important categories. 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 wasnt 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, didnt catch me flush on the chin but his punches were so heavy, heavier than Ike Quarteys. I dont know what he had in his hands. Quickest hands: Manny Pacquiao -- His punches dont come from your basic boxing style; they come from all sorts of weird angles. Thats 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 wouldnt notice him throwing it. His jab was very powerful, one of his best weapons. And when it landed, it really hurt. It didnt 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 didnt want me to fight angry, to try to take his head off. At the time I fought him, he didnt like pressure from his opponent because he didnt like fighting the whole three minutes. He is one smart cookie. Oscar De La Hoyas blog is updated once a week
de la hoya is quite right.... add worst judging he was involved in: felix trinidad.....that fight has become the text book defenition of robbery in boxing...
Gotta love Oscar and how he presents himself now...I think he gonna be a much better promoter than the old men....king, arum,
Thats strange i would have thought Mosley or even the couple shots Mayorga landed as being harder than Gatti.
Mosley clearly is one of the best he fought, no mention why not? He would never give props to Mayweather, never!
i agree overall he would never give floyd credit, in all the interviews since the floyd fight he says " I dont feel he beat me" not saying he was robbed or anything of that nature, but mentally in oscar's mind.....same goes for his loses to mosley....
Floyd ran. So why would he considered that top level? Mosely was on steroids. Probably both times and his last outing. Jeff Young - agree with you about Trinidad. I watched that live and was like WTF? But then realized Oscar would have retired if he won and well they wanted a new cash cow. And the man was the one getting hit. So take his word for it.
Exactly, funny how people expect him to mention their favorite fighters although he fought alot of fighters. What I find facinating is how much he still respects old versions of Whitaker and Chavez, and no I don't think he thought that just cuz he beat them, but more because they really were that good even in decline.
He just likes to please everyone and be a pretty boy that everyone likes so he says he likes everyone but for a different reason....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4SUx7QpOhU