Floyd Mayweather went into the most important fight of his career against Oscar De La Hoya with all the cards stacked against him.
The former pound-for-pound king, who became a boxing legend, faced De La Hoya in 2007. The bout was seen as a changing of the guard moment.
Agreeing to face De La Hoya at 154 pounds, a jump of eight pounds on his previous bout, Mayweather knew he had to take whatever De La Hoya stipulated.
The end game was to be the new Pay Per View boxing star. However, it was almost taken away from him on the judges’ scorecards.
Floyd Mayweather disadvantage
Discussing the build-up to the massive event, former Floyd Mayweather Promotions star Ishe Smith and CEO Leonard Ellerbe picked up the story.
They both stated that Mayweather was at a significant disadvantage and De La Hoya’s will. If he didn’t go along with everything De La Hoya, the number one star in boxing at that time, Mayweather would have never gotten the fight.
Smith said that De La Hoya tried everything within his power to make it impossible for Mayweather to win.
“Everyone knows that late in his career, Floyd had hand problems,” outlined the ex-IBF super welterweight champion.
He then questioned: “Oscar picked the man’s gloves for him! Is that not considered a handicap?
“I have trained with FM numerous times. He’s not a 154-pound fighter. But that’s the weight Oscar wanted. Are these not handicaps in your mind?”
Responding to a fan who said Smith was trying to justify why Mayweather only won via split decision, “Sugar Shay” stated: “I’m not saying that. You’re making the excuses!
“What I’m saying is rehydration clauses, and other clauses have been a part of the game for decades. And I repeat every IBF champion or contender who fights for the belt can’t weigh over ten pounds the morning of the fight.”
The last part eluded to the current Pay Per View super-fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia. The pair have agreed on a weigh-in on the day of the fight with a ten-pound stipulation attached.
However, Davis and Garcia are evenly matched when considering both sides’ weight and skill factors. Mayweather, unlike his protege Davis, was massively outweighed in the ring.
The De La Hoya split victory
Ellerbe pointed out: “Oscar outweighed him by twenty pounds on fight night!”
Luckily for Floyd Mayweather, he did enough at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to take the verdict with Chuck Giampa [116-112] and Jerry Roth [115-113].
In addition, Tom Kaczmarek sided with De La Hoya [115-113] for the old guard, whose time had passed. De La Hoya would lose to another boxer he held a significant advantage over his opponent in his next outing – Manny Pacquiao.
“Pac-Man” gave the faded Olympic champion a beating before De La Hoya left the sport for good.
