On his career in general now that's it's more or less over. What's the highest DLH can be ranked? What if he had been given Mosley II and the Trinidad match? He'd have one of the most incredible resumes in decades if he had.
To counter balance what if Whitaker, Quartey, Sturm all rightfully got the decisions against him? Plus Mosley 2 wasn't a gift, its a fight that really depends what you score on because Mosley landed all the meaningful shots, DLH landed more Oscar is hard to right, there's the often quoted 'he lost against all the best prime fighters he faced', which isn't completely true but has some truth. He's done very well against a wide variety of styles, got some BIG names, never truly proved himself the king in any division
unfortunately every argument that can be made about de la hoya (either way) can be picked apart with ease.. personally i think hes one of the most coreageous (spelling) fighters ever.. almost every great fighter he fought was either in or near their prime and finding a guy who takes on challenges the way he did is very rare.
I think your best ranking the following in some order: Delahoya Mosley Tito Whitaker Chavez I'd rank them: Whitaker, Mosley Delahoya Chavez Tito But then you have to ask other questions: 'Winky Wright and Forrest dominated the Mosley DLH twice lost too and he didn't face them, where should they be ranked" "What if rightfully Chavez didn't have a belt, Vargas didn't have a belt, Castillijo didn't have belts. Oscar would simply be a contender for much of the time he ' 'What if Oscar didn't make fighters come up in weight to face him' 'What if Oscar fought more prime LWW/WW/JMW contenders he missed like Tyszu, Randall, Forrest, Margarito, Winky, etc etc' 'what if Oscar didn't make fighters fight on his own terms, insert dodgy Oscar demand HERE' Fighting the big names always looks better on a resume but sometimes fighting uncrowned contenders can be just as hard. Oscar gets extra credit for facing the big names, possibly too much credit
For basically a one armed fighter, Oscar accomplished alot. Some of the fights could go either way, but Oscar won multiple titles in multiple weight classes, and with exception to the Hopkins fight, he was basically up for any challenge against any opponent. He definitely goes down as an all time great, and I would definitely rank him higher than Felix Trinidad.
Quartey and Whitaker were very close could have gone either way fights. I had Oscar beating Sweet Pea 114-112 oscar outlanded whitaker 2 to 1 ratio in powerpunches, and the Knockdown in the 12th won the De La Hoya fight on my card agaisnt Quartey by 1 point. Sturm fight was a robbery, ill give you that one.
If Moseley landed all the meaningful shots, then how come De La Hoya outlanded Mosely 115 to 94 in power punches? he also outlanded moseley 106 to 33 in Jabs landed, and landed 100 more punches than Shane. complete robbery.
I dont see how mosley could ever be rated over Oscar after the way he was twice embarrased in his prime by Vernon Forrest. This type of thing never happened to Oscar in his prime. I also think oscar dominated 135lb and 147lb slighty more efficiently than mosely did and was champion in more weight classes than shane. pity oscar didnt stay at 140lb, he was unstoppable there. he would have stopped kosta tyszu. Now that Margirito win was a great win for an older fighter, and that makes a case for shane but I see no reason why if Oscar had fought Margarito instead of Mayweather, that he would not have beaten antonio too. Oscar will go down as an ATG first ballot hall of famer. I would say top 15 welterweight of all time, top 20 lightweight of all time head to head, and top 20 junior welterweight of all time head to head. Oscar was one of the best technical boxers of the 1990s, maybe the best technically. Outstanding Left Jab, his combinations were some of those fluid fast and artistic combo's i have ever seen that could cut your face to ribbons in a heartbeat..Below 147lb Oscar also had serious power and tremendous finishing skills. At 140lb, he was a complete boxer puncher.
disagree. Seems like your trying to make a case for roy jones here since he missed out on most of the big names
Oscar wouldn't have gotten the nod against Quartey if that fight was held anywhere else besides Las Vegas, and if the fight took place in the 50's or 60's. I'm a firm believer in the fact that the 1st round shouldn't differ from the 12th round with regards to the weight of the final scoring. I don't buy this "championship" round garbage one single bit. No fighter should win a boxing contest by simply winning these so-called championship rounds, only to have done nothing for the first nine. What's more significant is the fact that Oscar did little until the 12th, while Quartey kept pumping his jab and throwing right hands through these championship rounds. Quartey dominated the fight, hurting Oscar many more times than Oscar hurt him. Sure, Oscar won the 12th round convincingly, and I can't argue against those who believe a contender can't take away a champion's title by getting knocked down himself in the last round, but Oscar didn't do nearly enough to win this decision. I scored it 116 - 113 in favour of Quartey and so did Larry Merchant, Harold Lederman and many others in attendence that night. Whitaker out-boxed Delahoya IMO, but the general opinion is that SweetPea didn't make Oscar pay, when he made him miss punches. Delahoya landed more power punches than Whitaker, but Pernell scored a knockdown and outlanded Delahoya overall. My problem, regardless of who won is the fact that Delahoya chose not to silence his critics with a rematch and better performance. Instead, he chickened out of rematches with Quartey and Whitaker, who were more than deserving. It's funny how he wasn't satisfied with his victory over Chavez, making it absolutely sure to get a rematch, but he was satisfied with his victories against Ike and Pernell? The Felix Sturm fight was a huge black eye for the sport. There's no way that Delahoya should have won that fight, even if you gave the close rounds to Oscar. Sturm dominated that fight and made Oscar's face look like he was the clear loser. I'd rank the Felix Sturm fight right beside Ali-Norton III, Lewis-Holyfield I, and Hearns-Leonard II as the biggest sham decisions in the history of the sport. Delahoya was a fighting champion, but I'll say he got what he deserved, especially against Trinidad and Mayweather. He was robbed against Trinidad, who got the gift decision in that fight, and the crowd noise and atmosphere didn't help him against Mayweather. Oscar tried to make it look like he was landing serious shots against Floyd, and the support from the crowd usually masks the effect of his punches, but the judges didn't buy it. I'd argue that the judges actually paid attention to the quality of shots by both fighters, and most of Oscar's punches were parried by Mayweather or they landed on his elbows.
