Mayweather Wins By Split Decision Over De La Hoya
Posted May 6, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. ( pictured) couldn’t win over the crowd, or even his own father. All he could win was the only thing that really counted Saturday night, his fight against Oscar De La Hoya.
Boxing’s bad boy beat the Golden Boy in one of the richest fights ever, using his superb defensive skills and superior speed to take a 12-round split decision and win the WBC 154-pound title in his first fight at that weight.
He didn’t impress the pro-De La Hoya crowd that roared with every punch thrown by their hero, and even Floyd Mayweather Sr. thought his son had lost. But Mayweather landed the harder punches and landed them more often, and that was enough to eke out yet another win.
Both proud champions fought from the opening bell to the end of the final round, which finished with the brawl De La Hoya wanted all along. But it came too late to help De La Hoya, who lost four of the last five rounds on two scorecards, sealing his fate.
De La Hoya threw far more punches than Mayweather in an almost desperate bid to overcome Mayweather’s slippery defence. He trapped Mayweather on the ropes and in the corner almost every round, throwing flurries to his head.
Mayweather was favoured 116-112 by judge Chuck Giampa and 115-113 by judge Jerry Roth. Judge Tom Kaczmarek had De La Hoya ahead 115-113. The fight ended with the crowd on its feet and two fighters trading punches wildly at the final bell. They then stopped and embraced each other.
