Never had any business being in there as he was too small (a fairly recent 130 lber). Had drawn at best (probably lost) to a much lesser MW in Sturm, and had no other MW credentials. Performed quite well for a few rounds, being a technically superior boxer to Bernard. May have been genuinely livered out, or may have decided he couldn't win and stayed down. All in all, not his best moments.
Agreed. *(And like many, I had him losing to Sturm). He did OK, but I always thought his performance early was overrated by many. Tactically he did well, but Bernard almost always coasted for 4 rounds or so, and De La Hoya tended to fade over the second half of most fights. I thought the fight unfolded predictably, and that Oscar performed average. Considering his only other fight at 160 was below average with Sturm, I think that contributed to the widely held perception that Oscar, at any point, was doing exceptionally well.
But would you say he did well tactically? Shouldn't he have tried to use more movement and his left hand more?
He was way too small for Bernard. He shouldn't have fought him, but I guess the payday was too enticing to say no to. Apparently he cut up his left palm pretty badly a few days before the fight, and that might have affected his jab/hook a bit, but ultimately even a healthy-handed Oscar would have lost. Too much of a size differential. That said, I thought Oscar did well for himself. I think I had it 5-3 Hopkins or 4-4 at the time of the stoppage. But it was still clear that the fight was turning against DLH by the middle rounds. Once Hopkins decided to just impose his size and rough him up in close quarters instead of boxing, DLH was ****ed. Oscar's inside game was never his strong suit, and against a middleweight as big and as strong as Hopkins, that spelled disaster. I'm not really sure what DLH could have done better from a tactical standpoint. He did well on the outside, but in the inside he was done for. He could have done better there, but that would have required him to either 1) be much bigger and stronger, which he didn't really have the frame for/would have killed his stamina, or 2) guarded his body better, I guess. He got hit clean in the face by Hopkins plenty of times and seemed to take them well, but he clearly wasn't liking it to the body even early in the fight. I guess I'll give him a 6-7 overall.
He had the right idea. His performance overall was alot of nothing. He moved well and avoided punishment for awhle but wasnt scoring or really offering much in the way offense at all.
