No I think it was a bad decision made worse by the margin of victory for DelaHoya. Whitaker didn't burn up the canvas either but I don't think he should have lost his title. Perhaps a draw at worst for SweetPea.
I'm watching it right now. It's the fifth or sixth fight I watched today-Ali-Chuvalo 2, Ali-Bonavena, Ali-Patterson 1, De La Hoya- Mayweather, De La Hoya- Mayorga and this one.
I picked that one wrong. I thought Oscar would stop Whitaker based on SweetPea's prior performances. He was starting to slip. Oscar didn't appear to have a gameplan.
It could have went either way. Depends on what you like. Most judges score for the fighter who is making the fight. Oscar was the guy trying to press the attack all night so they scored it for him. Whitaker landed a lot of jabs but not enough power punches (72 for the entire fight).
This is it. People confuse the absurd (& frankly suspicious) margins with a robbery. In actuality, the fight could have been scored for either man fairly.
It was a tough fight to score. De Lá Hoya missed lots but Whitaker wasn’t overly active himself. Oscar as the future was a monty to get the nod (boxing being what it is) but I wouldn’t call it a robbery at all. Even an old past prime Pernell was a very tricky outing for an elite talent like Oscar. You wonder what a peak Whitaker would’ve done with him.
Judges had it too wide but the fight could've gone either way although I had no issue with ODLH edging it I personally scored it a draw. 1 Whitaker 2 ODLH 3 ODLH 10-8 Whitaker automatically gets a point deducted due to the WBC rules about accidental clash of heads. 4 ODLH 5 Whitaker 6 ODLH 7 Whitaker 8 ODLH 9 Whitaker 10-8 knockdown 10 Whitaker 11 Whitaker 12 ODLH 113-113 Draw.
It really was a pick-'em thing. Neither man seemed to really have an edge. DLH getting the nod isn't a travesty, nor would it have been the other way.
ODLH's look of confusion during that fight is only bettered by JCC's look of cluelessness against Whittaker especially as the fight wore on. Both were robberies IMO. The ODLH wasn't terrible and with some sympathy towards Golden Boy you might get to a draw or a narrow win but it's nonetheless a robbery.
