By Charles Jay

BET ON BOXING HISTORY AT BODOG.COM

The current line:

FLOYD MAYWEATHER  -185

OSCAR DE LA HOYA  +155

(Odds may be subject to change) 

This is an age where a fighter is nothing if he hasn't won multiple titles. And thus Oscar De La Hoya has won six "world championships" while his opponent on Saturday, Floyd Mayweather, has won four "titles." To the neophyte observer, these accomplishments may appear to dwarf those of great fighters like Henry Armstrong, Barney Ross, Emile Griffith and Alexis Arguello, who "only" won three belts.

 

Do the contestants in Saturday's showdown measure up to those all-time greats? Will Saturday's result go a long way toward determining that? Yes, if you believe that great fighters must beat outstanding fighters to affirm, then re-affirm their greatness.

 

De La Hoya could well be a great fighter - maybe not on the order of multi-division champs like Sugar Ray Leonard or Roberto Duran, but certainly deserving of a solid place in history. Oscar has had his critics through the years, but has never run away from the great challenges that have prevented themselves. The list of opponents he's beaten has not lacked for substance (Pernell Whitaker, John John Molina, Rafael Ruelas, Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Hector Camacho, Ike Quartey, Arturo Gatti, Javier Castillejo, Fernando Vargas, Felix Sturm). He's even got a win over one member of the Mayweather clan - Jeff Mayweather (Floyd's uncle). And his defeats haven't been against slouches - Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins.

 

Floyd Mayweather is a great fighter, or at least he looks like one right now. He is a rare combination of speed, slickness and know-how, and hasn't exactly cut his teeth on a substandard roster of opponents either. Though it's not as star-studded as Oscar's, wins over Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Arturo Gatti, Genaro Hernandez, Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir have earned him a well-deserved reputation of his own. Although the opinion is not necessarily unanimous, Mayweather has taken over from Roy Jones as the sport's best fighter in the minds of most. But he has some advantages over Jones as a fighter. For one thing, he has more of a command of the fundamentals, who often got by on speed and athletic ability.

 

And those with an educated eye will notice that Mayweather does so many subtle things with effectiveness that it's unbelievable.

 

He'll turn his shoulder into his chin so his opponent can't get a clear shot.

 

He'll take a quick step to the right, and as his man has a temporary blind spot, he'll shoot the straight right lead.

 

He moves his upper body so well that it is near-impossible to land combinations against him.

 

He throws a straight left jab to the chest so he can set the opponent up for punches to the head.

 

He feints. He slips. He pretty much does it all.

 

My own personal opinion is that Mayweather has a chance to be one of the all-time great fighters.

 

But he'll have to get by De La Hoya first.

 

De La Hoya, unlike Mayweather, is not the most stylish fighter in the world. But there is an industriousness about him; he knows how to win, and one can never count him out of a fight because he has good one-punch power and knows how to finish his man. He has found himself facing trouble at various times, and more often than not he has overcome it. And in that way he has an advantage over Mayweather, who may have been uncomfortable in some fights (particularly against Jose Luis Castillo), but has never really faced a lot of adversity. Of course, much of that is due to the fact that he's outclassed nearly everyone he's come across. It's not unfair to operate under the assumption that due to many factors, not the least of which is Oscar's bigger frame, this will be Floyd's biggest challenge to date. And so it stands to reason that he may have to encounter situations he's never experienced before.

 

A factor some people are playing up is that De La Hoya has much more experience on the "big stage" than Mayweather. This is overrated. Most of De La Hoya's big fights, if not all of them, have been in an atmosphere that, if it wasn't friendly, was at least not hostile. Mayweather went squarely into hostile territory against Arturo Gatti (Atlantic City's Convention Center) and in front of a pay-per-view audience, and by way of his actions, boldly proclaimed himself Gatti's daddy.

 

Of course, he did that with speed. And speed is what got De La Hoya beat against Shane Mosley. Mayweather is faster than that. Floyd is not likely to be a big puncher at the 154-pound level, but speed has a tendency to generate power, and Mayweather comes with the best sneaky left hook since Sugar Ray Leonard. It comes at such warp speed that I don't really think there is much of a defense for it. This is something Oscar is going to have to worry about for as long as the fight lasts.

 

Another consideration will be the relative size of the fighters. It can certainly be an ally of De La Hoya, who has been fighting at 154 pounds or higher since 2001, while Mayweather was a junior welterweight (140 pounds) as recently as two years ago. At the WBC's seven-day advance safety weigh-in, De La Hoya tipped the scales at 158 pounds compared to just 150 for Mayweather, so Oscar could outweigh Floyd by a considerable margin when they step into the ring.

 

But I've always been one who thinks that if you have the edge in speed and elusiveness, it might make sense, if you're the smaller guy to begin with, to be at a more natural weight. Why bulk up if it's going to make you slower, thus mitigating an important asset?

 

Whatever happens in that regard, I doubt very seriously that De La Hoya is going to administer punishment on a sustained basis over a period of rounds. I just don't think Mayweather is going to make himself available for that kind of thing, even if it means getting on that bicycle once in a while. But if De La Hoya would be able to catch Floyd with a big shot early on; not necessarily a knockout blow, but harder than Mayweather's been hit before, it could put a different face on this fight. One never knows whether something like that could prompt Floyd to have a "Hector Camacho moment" where he takes that blow, as Camacho did in his fight against Edwin Rosario, and is overly cautious to the point of ineffectiveness for the rest of the fight. Such an occurrence would obviously provide De La Hoya with a much easier time than expected.

 

But I'm thinking that easier time won't happen. De La Hoya is going to have a difficult task hitting Mayweather flush, while avoiding that left hook himself. And with his penchant for fading a bit toward the tail end of his fights, he's going to be vulnerable to Mayweather, who never seems to get tired.

 

Speed, stamina and savvy will carry the day for Floyd Mayweather in this one. 

OUR PLAYS AT BODOG.COM:

* Mayweather -185

* Mayweather by decision  +110

* Over 11.5 rounds  -215

* Over 5.5 rounds  -1200

* No knockdowns or knockouts  -175

 

(Odds are subject to change)

** For a complete list of wagering options available on this fight, and to bet on boxing history, visit Bodog at

(Charles Jay is a featured contributor to Boxing Scene. He is a veteran of the sport, spending nearly two decades in boxing as a manager, matchmaker, broadcaster, publicist and booking agent).