DeLaHoya has not won a significant fight yet

Who has him in the top 10?

 

Sorry Bazooka, I had not read your post just before mine and you said basically the same thing I posted.

 

That I don't remember but honestly, that has been posted here more than once. Windowmaker has Oscar the best even taking Duran apart

 

question? how was Chavez way past it with only 1 loss on his record when he faced DeLaHoya?

 

yeah he's popular but all these fights he takes he losses. I dont care if he is the Golden Boy or not he keeps losing. But yet people keep ordering his ppv's. Unlike when any other fighter that has a name losses a fight or 2, evry1 rights them off. When RJ was on ppv his ppv sales were nowhere near Oscar's, and RJ was wooping ass and doing it in style, evry1 was entertained watching his fights. But RJ lost 3 ina row and evry1 wrote him off. Oscar has lost to, B-hop, Trinidad, SHane Mosley 2x's, Mayweather. But yet people still pay to watch him.

 

The "one" loss was simply on paper. The Randall rematch was a joke. Chavez was lucky to get a draw against Whitaker also.

Hell, Ali had just 2 official losses when he fought Leon, but he was a shell of what he once was. Chavez in 1996 wasn't as declined as Ali in 1978.

Chavez was at his best probably in the late 80s. He wasn't a shot fighter when he fought DLH, but he was definitely on the downside.

Actually I think it shows how great he was to have a style like his which was usually on the attack and coming forward, and to have that sort of longevity. He had 100 pro fights and was fighting on a championship level for 12 years by the time he faced Oscar.

 

The first win actually meant something for DLH's legacy.

The rematch, however, was another story. It was just a way to make big money on the Mexican holiday.

 

If we are saying that he hasnt won in a legitimate manner then we have to take into account his loses that were not in a legitimate manner, Mosley II and Tito Trinidad.

 

Ruelas
Leija
Gonzalez
Carr
Mayorga
Molina
Paez

neither on this entire list are considered great fighters...

Camacho was great, but how old was he when Oscar fought him?

and Oscar lost to Mosley, Tito, and Mayweather...quit against Hopkins before he could take a serious beating...

so no Oscar never beat a great fighter in their prime...

 

Fair question.

It was wasn't just that Chavez was near the tail end of a brilliant career. He was up against the wrong competition in DLH. Oscar was bigger, stronger and faster than Chavez at a time when Chavez didn't have the reflexes that made his defense and counterpunching so effective throughout his earlier career.

You know the cliche, "Styles make fights." DLH was just the wrong opponent for Chavez at that point in Chavez' career; or, perhaps, Chavez was the perfect opponent for a DLH trying to cement a TV marque name for himself.

A comparable situation might have been Arguello vs. Pryor. Alexis was a great champion but beyond his ideal weight class and just enough past his prime, and Aaron Pryor was the most dangerous man in that weight class at the time. Even with the advantage of height and size, Sugar Ray Leonard ducked Pryor.

But I digress...

 

You're a tough one to persuade.

Rueles, Hernandez, Leija and Molina were hardly light competition at any time near their primes which, for a few of these guys, was a lot longer than most boxers in this weight class.

And pitting a very young DLH so early in his career against these guys was risky. A calculated risk that paid off, to be sure, but the game is full of similar risks that bombed and either delayed the rise of a promising fighter, or undermined his confidence and ruined him.

I don't know whether you've boxed. I was an amateur for a few years and occasionally had to spar young pros for lack of amateur sparring partners (shh... nobody is supposed to know this dirty secret but it goes on all the time). There's a tremendous difference between a highly ranked amateur and an unknown but seasoned pro. The pro has been under more pressure and doesn't make many stupid mistakes.

At that point in Oscar's pro career, pitting him against Troy Dorsey was as risky as matching, say, Zab Judah against Carlos Baldomir. Troy was a light hitter with a high output and hard head. I saw him beat "better" boxers who didn't take him seriously enough.

Who'dathunkit, hmm?

And Rueles, Hernandez, etc. ... those guys were a serious threat to someone as young and inexperienced as DLH. Especially considering what we now know about DLH's occasional problems with self-confidence back then.