Oscar Del a Hoya vs Pernell Whitaker 1. Pea 10-9 (Pea 10-9) 2. Pea 20-18 (Pea 10-9) 3. Even 28-28 (Hoya 10-8)* 4. Pea 38-37 (Pea 10-9) 5. Pea 48-46 (Pea 10-9) 6. Pea 57-56 (Hoya 10-9) 7. Even 66-66 (Hoya 10-9) 8. Hoya 76-75 (Hoya 10-9) 9. Pea 85-84 (Pea 10-8) 10. Even 94-94 (Hoya 10-9) 11. Pea 104-103 (Pea 10-9) 12. Pea 114-112 (Pea 10-9) *Pretty stupid rule with the headbutt, but it was part of the rules so I've taken the extra point from Pea
Review the fight of the week for this fight. Many scorecards were given there. I had Pea, just barely.
I felt Oscar won it, but the margin was closer than the judges had it. If your the type how thinks light jabs landed win a round, Whitaker did that. If you think power punches landed win rounds Oscar did that. Oscar De La Hoya would ultimately win the bout by unanimous decision with two scores of 116–110 and 115–111. There was controversy, however, as the bout appeared closer than what the lopsided scores showed. (In fact, there were a lot of ringside observers & sportswriters who felt that Whitaker won the fight. Whitaker outpunched De La Hoya, landing 232 punches to De La Hoya's 191 and dominated with his jab, scoring 160 while De La Hoya only landed 45. Whitaker also scored the fight's lone knockdown, as he caught De La Hoya off balance with a left hook late in the ninth round, De La Hoya quickly rose up as if he had slipped, but referee Mills Lane ruled it a knockdown. Though De La Hoya did not land as many punches or jabs as Whitaker, he had a distinct advantage in power punches, landing 146 to Whitaker's 72, which may have swayed the judges in his favor.
115-112 for Oscar. He was the boss. By a certain time, folks were willing to bend over backwards to give Pernell rounds that he didn't win, often citing some fleeting moments of cuteness that by their supposed representation of high unattainable skill were suitable to overshadow Oscar's heavy-handed work.
