He was a great fighter and a deserving Hall of Famer but a lot of the Mexican American and actually a lot of Latinos in general,, myself included, thought he was the next Julio Cesar Chavez quite possibly. With a record of 39-6 he fell way short off that lofty comparison. But he fought Troy Dorsey, Jimmy Bredahl, from there on all the way to Floyd Mayweather and then Manny Pacquiao...Im sure had he had a few years left he'd met Canelo and Triple G for good measure. I'll always say this: boxing had a golden chance of becoming a major sport and open up to the masses ala MLB, NBA,, NFL, NHL, and even NASCAR, the WWE and UFC when De La Hoya, Tito Trinidad, Pac Man, Roy Jones Jr. and then Mayweather etc surfaced in the 90s with Thomas Hearns, Macho Camacho, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard still around also. Kids and teenagers do, as evidenced by the WWE and UFC during those times too, influence parents into paying for PPV. I think had they all had promotional items such as action figures, t shirts and even WBC, BA, BO and BF title belts for sale at Walmart, K-Mart and Target promoting boxing and the boxers, those PPV sales would have skyrocketed even more. Sadly, boxing missed out on it's chance.
I'll go against the grain here. He was NOT a naturally gifted fighter and he LACKED fluidity. He was a little mechanical and stiff rather than fluid. But he had the courage of a lion who never fought bums or setups. Not once in his entire career did he fight anyone who had a losing record! He was utterly dominant at 130-140 lbs but when he moved up to welter he no longer had the height advantage or power to bust guys up and mow them down. He was still very good in the higher weight classes but not among the greats. A big-time attraction he was fantastic for boxing. He also helped popularize the sport among women. For a time he was the face of boxing.
I see why one might get that impression, since He had more upright stance and wasn't always moving his head - but that comes down to the style and technique in which He was schooled. He won the olympic gold as a teeneger, in the pros He outboxed Pernell Whittaker and both him and Mosley credit him for having the fastest hands out of any opponent They fought. He was fast, very fluid with combinations, had great delivery with his left hook and in his prime, great eyes-vision too which allowed him to parry and catch punches in close range. I don't think there's many more fluid offensive fighters. On defensive side He probably lacked a bit indeed.
Great fighter that had one of the best left hands I have ever seen. Outstanding jab and brutally quick left hooks. He really made the 90's and early 2000's fun with his mega pay per views against all comers. Even though I thought he lost some fights that he got the decisions ( Quartey and Sturm), he still gets a lot of credit for having taken the fights in the first place.
Fishnets aside he was a really great fighter with an excellent jab, fast hands and combinations, and fought almost everyone.
Great fighter in a rather limited time. He knocked out and stopped guys easily early on prior to his 147 days, which most guys did not stop that easily. When his left hook stopped having the same effect he started to look more ordinary..
I think he moved the dial on further but Ray Leonard probably started that off in the 80s so Oscar benefited a bit from that.
Tough crowd. I don't think he's gay though that wouldn't change my opinion of him. Great fighter who might not win but would be competitive with anybody in his weight class. Look how close he came as a past it fighter against Floyd.