Simple, even stupid thoughts, but they are on my mind after watching this weekend's fight. In the wake of that massacre, I'm seeing some question whether Oscar was ever a great fighter. Obviously, this isn't fair, at least in its timing. No team in sports is ever as good or as bad as it's last performance. The same goes for fighters, especially aging fighters whose primes are clearly past them. But as Oscar got beaten from corner to corner, it became clear he had nothing else to try but following and throwing the occasional weak power shot. He never tried to crowd Manny. He never tried jabbing to the body. Granted that in his state, overmatched and absorbing punishment, nothing was likely to work, but that he barely tried anything different was alarming. I'm not sure Oscar was ever adaptable in the ring, even during his prime. He never was a great ring general. His biggest improvement over the years was learning how to do something with his right hand. He did outlast Vargas, waiting for him to tire and turning the fight with the left hook counter. And he was creative enough to keep Bernard off of him before the inevitable happened. But in his losses and in his close calls, he usually found the fight being dictated to him. Making mid-fight adjustments requires an incredible blend of skill, talent, conditioning, and the ability to make calm appraisals while someone is hitting you. Even in the twilight of his career, Oscar was still trying to figure out how to relax himself in the ring, and from the looks of things, he never really learned how. IMO, it's one of the glaring difference between Oscar and the bona fide greats of his generation like Hopkins, Calzaghe, Toney, even Jones, although Roy would have had many rougher moments if he had fought Oscar's level of competition consistently. In his biggest fights, Oscar always looked oddly uncomfortable. A lot like Roy, his questionable technique cost him after his athleticism faded, although only to a cast of first ballot hall of famers. Am I selling Oscar short like the people piling on him after this weekend? Was he more dynamic than I'm giving him credit for? Overall, do people consider him a complete fighter?
