De La Hoya vs Chavez 2

DLH is not a good boxer. Chavez has a much better skillsets than DLH.

DLH is on the same boat as Jones Jr. and Shane Mosley, once there physical attributes are decreased due to age, their skillset cant compensate because their skillset was average to begin with.

In case you did'nt know, the first jab of the fight had Chavez bleeding over his eyelid. Its documented fact that Chavez had a pre-existing cut he suffered in training camp in the leadup to the first DLH fight.

The DLH of today now admits he knew about Chavez had a cut that he was aiming to target in their fight.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diXuGJEiZyY
At the 12 minute mark Chavez and DLH of today start to talk about their first fight. Chavez states reasons why DLH was'nt going to beat him that night had his cut not opened. He was in tremendous shape and as motivated as he's ever been for a fight, but once the cut opened up immediately, his gameplay to wait out DLH and get him into the late rounds where he was'nt as experienced went out the window.

Every boxing expert back then picking Chavez did so while pointing out that early DLH was going to have the quickness and speed advantage, late is where Chavez was going to incorporate his experience and impose his will in.

Anyone that knows anything about boxing knows that someone of Chavez' style has to work over the long haul of a fight to beat a DLH type, as he did vs Meldrick Taylor

When you start bleeding from the first jab landed, anyone with a brain knows that incorporating yourself to get inside a reach and be willing to take a few shots to get off your own, is no longer a plausible gameplan to work with.

Once the blood starts flowing Chavez now knows he's got to take chances to get inside and land thunder. If you know an ounce about Chavez, you know Chavez is'nt a one punch wonder. He's someone to work the body and use parrying and swiveling waist movements while working you over the "long haul" of a fight.

"Long haul" is out the window when you start bleeding with the first jab thats landed in a fight.

Education is a wonderful thing!!!:deal

 

Having just watched the 2nd fight again I think the big factor was strength, everytime JCC got in close Oscar just shrugged him off with his shoulder. He was actually looking like he was getting into the fight until that final round. He was already dead tired (just few punches from him had nothing on them) and then he took those thunderous shots just before the bell. I don't know what was going on in the corner, he said his doctor told him he couldn't continue but everyone else seemed to be urging him to continue and the interpreter says someone said, "I can stop the bleeding" and JCC shook his head about 6 times.Had he not been cut he I'm not sure he would have quit, that cut looked BAD, blood was pouring into his mouth.
I think the best possible match up between them would have occurred between 135 (JCC prime)and 140 (Probably DLH most effective weight even though he wasn't there for long), probably a CW of 138. DLH wouldn't have had as much body strength to push him away with and also would have felt his punches more.

 

DLH too young, big & strong for Chavez, especially at that stage of their careers. Chavez did look old (not shot) to me and out of his weight class but put in a worthy effort. Either way, during the fight many times he looked off balance.
The problem is stylistically, Chavez' style of grinding/breaking them down becomes nullified once he fights a bigger man, especially one that is more durable, such as DLH, unless he could have him drained ala Pacquiao, which wasnt the case in this fight.
Its sort of a similar problem Cotto faces when fighting bigger guys at 154lbs and above ... his style of breaking down the opponent will work as long as the guy will wilt. Its much difficult to break them down when they are naturally bigger/stronger. Add to that DLH had good skills, used distance & his size well for the most part. Physically it just was not an "even" playing field, regardless of how much experience Chavez had considering he was out of his weight class, undersized, and older.

You can turn the tables around and if you were to offset the playing field in the other direction and have DLH fight being older, at a weight disadvantage and you end up with something like the Pacquiao fight against the right opponent.