Whitaker: "De La Hoya Was B+ In His Prime, And Not A Big Puncher"

You haven't seen the fight, so how would you know?

 

I seen the fight and he ran. :smoke

 

I respect Pernell, but Oscar was an A+ fighter in his prime who had 1 punch knockout power in his left hand at 147.

 

When did he show one punch KO power in his left hook at 147?

I guess Carr, but Carr had taken a lot of hard shots throughout the 11 rounds anyway.

Kamau?

 

No he didn't no where close. Very few fighters in boxing history have true one shot KO power, examples Ernest Shavers, George Foreman, Julian Jackson or a Hitman Hearns. That term gets thrown around way too much around here. Oscar had good power but guys like the ones I mentioned are lightyears ahead of Oscar in terms of power. BTW he was never an A+ fighter even in his prime. A+ fighters don't lose to the likes of Mosley and Tito, they win those.

 

Nice to see your answering your own questions.

Was Hoya an A+ fighter in his prime or a B+ fighter?

 

I'll be willing to nudge to "Oscar had good power in his left hand at 147". I see your point.

Oscar beat Mosley in the rematch, and beat Tito also on my scorecards. Oscar was A+

 

Pernell Whitaker was A+ in my opinion. Oscar failed to beat him when he was way past it. He can't be A+ in that case. A at best ?

 

Either way, Pernell Whitaker is "wrong" when he says Oscar De La Hoya was a B+ fighter in his prime.

And Boxing doesn't work like that. Chavez was A+ but he was taken to school by Pernell.

 

Neither. A.

A+ is for rare fighters. Lightweight Duran, welterweight Leonard, for instance.

But I don't really see the one shot KO power in his left at 147, other than the Kamau fight when he dropped or hurt him with every left hook he landed.

 

i totally agree...

top 10 of all time?...

then Mayweather has to be above him

 

I've corrected myself on that since then. He had good power in his left at 147.

I thought De La Hoya was an A+ fighter, but if your criteria means he is A, I'm willing to agree. In any event, we're in agreement that Pernell is wrong in his assessment of prime De La Hoya.

 

Do you really think Chavez was A+ ?

In my opinion, A+ fighters are the most complete like my friend Thread Stealer said like Leonard or Duran. Chavez, in his best days, was a mere imitation of Duran. Less aggressive, less skilled. B+ at the very best.

 

Julio Cesar Chavez, in my opinion, was an A+ fighter in his prime - yes.

 

De La Hoya was, in the grand scheme of things, pretty much B+, I agree. Definitely not A+, that is reserved for the elite of the elite.