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

He said he was B+ in his prime. I think he was an A level fighter, but I guess now you agree with your favourite fighter of all time in Sweet Pea. Fair enough. :good

 

He was B+ in his prime, yes, in comparison with the truly elite ATG's, the A+ level fighters. Oscar was nowhere near them. How this can be argued is beyond me.

 

I thought Oscar De La Hoya had A skillset that warranted an A level rating. All-time greats seperate themselves with other things like heart, punch resistance, etc. As far as ability goes, I thought Oscar was A level in his prime, and how that can be argued is beyond me.

 

I thought Oscar was a level or two below a guy like Napoles at least in terms of skill-set and ability, and Napoles ranks about #35 on my ATG list(though higher in terms of pure ability). How the hell can you argue that he was as skilled as the top tier ATG's? That's just absurd.

 

You have an ATG list purely in terms of skill-set and ability? I'm clearly out my depth if your that pretentious about your Boxing.

However, I get the sense we both have a different outlook on the difference between overall greatness and skillset. I think there are plenty of fighters in History that most likely had A level ability, but because of intangibles, would never become ATG's or top-tier as you call it. Purely in terms of abiltiy, I think Oscar De La Hoya was way up there in his prime. Fantastic hand speed, a great combination puncher, and had great power in his left at 147. His stamina was sometimes called in to question, but he only ever lost to the best of his generation - although some of those losses are highly debatable (Mosley 2, Trinidad).

Either way, Oscar De La Hoya was a great fighter in his prime, and some people forget that at ESB.