Ringside LA With Johnny Ortiz
May 2, 2007
"The Battle Of The Boys"
The Golden Boy Will Take It To Pretty Boy!

On the night of May 5, 2007 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, only one fighter will leave the ring as the WBC Super Welterweight Champion, I can say unequivocally that the champion who will emerge victorious on this grand night will be “The Golden Boy,” Oscar De La Hoya.   It is my firm belief that Oscar will be too big, too strong and having faced far bigger, more talented big name opponents, will have the superior experience needed to upend the smaller Mayweather.  It will be Floyd’s first fight at the super welterweight limit of 154 pounds while Oscar has lived at this particular weight for five fights, plus two of his most recent fights have been at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds.  Having been in with the better horses, Oscar can boast of an impressive lineup that includes: Bernard Hopkins, Felix Strum, Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas, Felix Trinidad, Pernell Whitaker, Julio Caesar Chavez, and Ricardo Mayorga to name a select few.  Compare it to Floyd Mayweather’s lineup consisting of: Carlos Baldomir, Zab Judah, Jose Luis Castillo, Arturo Gatti and Sharma Mitchell, again to name just a few.   Castillo, (both fights) Judah and Baldomir all went the twelve round distance with Pretty Boy, I ask you, what do you suppose the outcome would have been if Oscar had fought the three of them?

A few years ago, Floyd challenged Oscar to a fight, the boxing community scoffed at such a match, no one gave Floyd a chance with the bigger, more experienced Oscar, so what is the difference now, it is still the same fight.  I feel the exact same way about this fight that I did when I picked Bernard Hopkins, a 4-1 underdog, to not only beat Felix Trinidad, but to knock him out which he did.  Tito had only one fight as a middleweight while Bernard had fought his whole career as a middleweight and most of it as a champion, I emphatically believed that in fighting Bernard, Tito would be testing the middleweight waters for only the second time, he was not yet a solid middleweight while Bernard was a proven, solid middleweight champion.  Having followed his career; I knew that Bernard was destined to be an all time great middleweight champion.  I took a lot of ridicule on my radio show by picking Bernard, but as we all now know, I had the last laugh.  The comparison I now make is that Pretty Boy, who opened as the betting favorite as did Tito, will not have the luxury of having one fight under his belt as Tito did when he faced Bernard Hopkins, and Pretty Boy will not be fighting the likes of his last three opponents, in Oscar, he will be facing a fighter who has won titles in six different weight classes, a fighter who began to box at the ripe old age of six, as an amateur, Oscar posted a very impressive record of 223 wins, 5 losses and 163 KO’s, he has defeated seventeen current or former world champions.  He is a fighter who has learned his craft well over the years, he will know how to cut off a ring on a fighter who, most assuredly if he’s smart, will be constantly fighting on the move.  I look for Oscar to come out smoking while fighting intelligently and under the tutelage of Freddie Roach; he will make sure Oscar goes into the fight with plenty of gas left in the tank in case he needs to go into the deep waters of the later rounds.  Another huge plus for Oscar is the fact that his long time friend, Sugar Shane Mosley, himself a three division champion, arrived at Oscar’s training site to help him prepare for Mayweather, who better than Shane to emulate Mayweather’s speed and quickness.  Judging from his last fight, Shane looked better than ever, I would pick him in a heartbeat if he were to fight Mayweather.   Having Shane to hone his skills will give Oscar the razor’s edge to confront Floyd’s speed and quickness.   I just finished watching Shane Mosley being interviewed on ESPN 2 Friday Night Fights, it was very interesting to hear what Sugar Shane had to say, “Oscar is punching hard and his jab is strong, I think Mayweather is going to be surprised how fast and how hard Oscar hits.  I think Oscar is going to stop Floyd.”  Shane also agreed with what I had written earlier in this article that Oscar would have knocked out all the guys Floyd has fought.   Sugar Shane also added that he wants Pretty Boy next. 

Winky Wright when asked his opinion on who he thought was going to win the big fight between Oscar and Floyd had this to say:  “I like Oscar, I think Oscar is stronger.  Floyd is sharp, he is very quick, but Floyd has been fighting people that ain’t got everything.  He fights a fighter that’s quick but he can’t punch.  If he can punch, then he’s slow.  So, you know, that’s why Floyd looked great like that against them, but I think he’s fighting a fighter that’s big, that’s strong, that knows how to win.  Oscar’s used to winning.  So, when he hits Floyd with one of them hooks or he hits Floyd with a good jab, we gonna see what Floyd can do.”  Winky is not buying into the claim that HBO thinks Mayweather is unbeatable, he sees a fighter that is beatable.  “Floyd got real good defense, that’s all well and good, but when you got a smart fighter like Oscar that knows how to hit you with all that shoulder movement, then Floyd is gonna get hit with jabs and once the jab lands, you better watch out for the hook.  Like I said, Floyd is quick.  I think Floyd is going to try to stick and move, run, stick and move, stick and move, and if he don’t-if he stays there- I think Oscar’s gonna catch up with him.”

I like Winky’s assessment of the fight, I agree with his outlook, in a press release, Pretty Boy had another outlook, he guarantees that he would punish Oscar in a toe-to-toe affair and force him into submission.  Waving a flag in Oscar’s face, he said: You can fall on your face; you can fall on your ass; you can fall on your back, I’m known for making them quit.”

When it was time for Oscar to take the mike after again taking Floyd’s verbal abuse, Oscar had this to say: “He has no idea what he’s getting himself into, no idea!  You can talk and talk and talk and talk.  Just keep going…I urge you to keep going.  Keep going!”  He concluded in Spanish to the adoring fans that will be with him as he represents them on Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican Independence Day.  He had this to say to them: “To my people, a special thanks.  Thank you and the rest of my fans for your support.  On May 5^th, we will find out who is going to win…the clown or me.”  I feel strongly that the bottom line will be that Pretty Boy doesn’t have the firepower to keep Oscar off of him, the Golden Boy has only been stopped once and that was to Bernard Hopkins, as I stated earlier, one of the greatest middleweight champions of all time. If Floyd couldn’t stop Baldomir, Judah or Castillo (twice), two welterweights and a lightweight, I think that it is safe to assume that he will not be able to hurt Oscar who has been in with boxing’s premier punchers.  In essence, Floyd cannot hurt Oscar, but Oscar most definitely has the firepower to hurt Floyd.  It wasn’t that long ago that Floyd campaigned at 140 pounds, he has had only three fights at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds and now he will be testing the 154-pound division for the very first time.  The big mistake some fighters make when they keep moving up in weight is that they are not able to increase their power and in most cases, minimize it, it is a known fact that the higher they venture in weight, the harder the opposition punches.  Case in point, when Jose ‘Manteqilla” Napoles, who I believe to be one of the top four welterweights of all time, moved up to fight the great middleweight champion, Carlos Monzon, quite a few very knowledgeable boxing people gave Jose a great chance to beat the champion due to his greatness, I on the other hand, told everyone who would listen that Monzon was simply too big and too strong for Napoles.  Jose did very well for the first three or four rounds, as I believe Mayweather will do, unless Oscar hurts him early, but I knew that it would only be a matter of time before Monzon’s size and strength would catch up with Jose.  Mantequilla was brutally stopped in the seventh round.  It was the first and only time the great Jose Napoles would move up in weight.  To further illustrate my point in picking Oscar is the fact that Floyd being a small welterweight, will most likely come in at weigh-in time hopefully around 150-51 pounds, Oscar on the other hand will have no trouble making 154 by fight time, at the last report on ESPN 2 Friday night, nearly a week from the fight, they reported that Oscar weighed in at 158 pounds while Floyd came in at 150.  Oscar will make the designated weight of 154 pounds with ease, he will more than likely come into the ring at or near the middleweight limit, although after just watching Oscar’s final teleconference on boxing2007.com, he said that he is already at 152 pounds and that he feels very quick, he went on to say he feels twenty-five again and he thinks he will come into the ring at 152 pounds as to retain the newfound quickness he is experiencing at this particular weight.  These are two conflicting reports, whatever the weight at fight time; Oscar will remain the bigger man.  When the first bell sounds, it may very well be a blown-up welterweight against a fighter with a middleweight frame.  As the old saying goes in boxing, a good big man will always beat a good little man.  Make no mistake about it, Floyd Mayweather is an exceptionally gifted fighter who has gone on record as saying that it isn’t the size or weight that wins fights; it’s the smarts that wins fights.  That is all well and good but I happen to have been around too long to know that it most certainly does make a difference, especially fights pairing world-class fighters.  There are things you just cannot concede to the other fighter, weight and size being the main ones.  The only time I have ever picked against Oscar was when he fought Bernard Hopkins; the aforementioned reasons are why I did.  I knew Bernard was a legitimate middleweight where Oscar was not.  I was proud of Oscar for even fighting Bernard, but I knew Bernard’s size and strength would eventually take over the same way it will against Pretty Boy.  Oscar gave Bernard a great fight, he more than held his own going into the eighth round, it was toward the middle of the round that I saw for the first time that Bernard’s overall size was starting to surface.  The liver shot Oscar took from Bernard in the ninth round was a picture perfect shot to the body, I have to laugh whenever I read and hear from the Oscar haters that he tanked.  

I can speak from personal experiences what it is like to take a perfect shot to the side of your body, I was young, going to college and was about to give up my boxing to concentrate on an acting career, this one particular day while training at Jake Shugre’s Hoover St. Gym, my trainer at the time, Cannonball Green, had me spar with an up and coming, young light heavyweight.  I was a middleweight at the time, we went two hard fought rounds, about a minute into the third round, I threw a right hand, he went under it and countered with a left hook to the body, about the same place Bernard hit Oscar, I immediately went down to one knee, I had trouble catching my breath, that was the end of my sparring days.  About seventeen years later, I stepped into the ring in Hemet, California with my good friend, Jerry Quarry, as he was preparing for his fight with Thad Spencer in Oakland, California, Jerry asked me to move him around the ring for a few rounds, it seems that Jerry’s sparring partners would not arrive until the following day and he wanted to get in some ring time.   Manager-trainer Johnnie Flores taped my hands and I was ready to go but only after seriously reminding Jerry of his heavy hands, I asked him not to throw anything hard my way, in the second round, he dipped and hit me with a half thrown left hook to the body, even though he cut the power way down, it hurt enough to think he had broken me in half, after catching my breath, I then walked over to Johnnie and asked that he remove my gloves, that was the end of that.  Jerry didn’t mean to hurt me; it’s just that fighters with heavy hands do not know their own strength, even when they think they are pulling their punches.  I felt Oscar’s pain when he went down in the Hopkins fight.  The thing is that it really does not have to be a powerful body shot, if it lands in the exact right place with enough force, believe me, a fighter will go down and the majority of the time will not be able to continue as was the case in the Hopkins fight.  I saw a press conference video where even Floyd accused Oscar of faking it against Bernard, Pretty Boy may be excused because in his case, he was only adding fuel to the fire in order to hype up the gate, as if this fight needed it, Floyd is a fighter, he knows Oscar is no quitter.  All I have to say is let these ignorant Oscar haters who think that Oscar faked it, let them take a shot to the liver, they never would because these are guys who haven’t got the guts to trade shots with an amateur fighter inside a square circle.  Oscar hasn’t got it in him to be a quitter; he would rather be carried out on his shield than quit in a fight.  He has proved this time and time again by only being stopped once in a forty-two-fight career, and to reiterate, it took an all-time great to do it.  Being in boxing for as long as I have been, I do not get caught up with all the Mayweather trash-talking and the fight hype, I enjoy the HBO 7/24 series only because I tune in to the training sessions for both camps, I am so glad Oscar chose Freddie Roach to train him, about four days before Oscar chose Freddie, I was going to try and get in touch with him to throw my two cents in by advising him to hire Freddie.  I never got around to it but my wish was answered by his hiring of Roach.  Freddie Roach is the perfect fit for Oscar, what better trainer than someone who was taught by the very best trainer ever…Eddie Futch!  Freddie obviously retained everything he was taught by the Grand Master of Boxing.  In the other camp, Roger Mayweather has the head training duties although Oscar’s former trainer of seven years, Floyd Mayweather Sr., is in camp where he has been unceremoniously told by Roger he can hang around but he is not to have anything to do with the training of Pretty Boy.  Sounds like it might be a cause for distraction.  I just now received word that Floyd Mayweather Sr. has been asked to leave his son’s camp.  Floyd Jr. is the self-anointed bad guy of “The World Awaits!”  He and Roger are doing a good job of it after training sessions on HBO 24/7 by throwing the “MF” and the “F” word all over the place while Oscar, when not training, shows class and a family atmosphere.  I guess Pretty Boy subscribes to the “Mike Tyson School of Profanity.”  Hey, I’m not a purist, I’ve been around bad language since I was a kid, I’m a guy who grew up in the streets around gangs known as, “White Fence,” “Mara Via” and “Florence St.”  It’s just that I do not think, because this being such a huge fight, that Floyd, recognized as the best pound for pound fighter in boxing, should be setting such a bad example for all of the kids interested in boxing that in all probability are tuned in to the weekly HBO series.  I was around Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali for some time, plus countless other great champions, with the exception of Iron Mike, I cannot recall ever hearing a one of them use uncalled for profanity.  Floyd comes off as a punk kid when he unleashes his vulgar tirades.  I call it as I see it.  As Oscar said in his last media conference, “Floyd has not made himself the villain as he claims, he is the villain.”  I look for a very interesting fight, Floyd will be on the Grand Stage for the first time, Oscar has been there on a number of occasions, I don’t think it will affect Floyd once the bell rings, after all, as a fighter, he is a consummate pro, he is sure to have other things on his mind, mainly the guy in front of him.  In one of those press conference videos, I like what Oscar had to say, “On May 5^th, I will fight the perfect fight, I have always wanted to fight the perfect fight, on May 5^th, I will fight the perfect fight.”  At all of the press conferences around the country, Oscar mostly sat back and took the verbal abuse thrown at him by Pretty Boy, even having Floyd bring out a chicken with the name, “Golden Girl,” wearing a simulated gold medal around its neck.  Oscar being the class act he is took it in stride and commenced to let Floyd do all the ranting and raving on their city to city tour.  Oscar said afterwards, “He can do all the talking he wants, come May 5^th, he will have to fight.”  The Pretty Boy has all kinds of predictions of how the fight is going to go, which naturally, all favor his winning, leaving the trash-talking to Floyd, the Golden Boy has emphatically proclaimed that on May 5^th, he will do his talking in the ring.  As far as predictions go, I like Oscar by KO anywhere from the sixth round to the tenth, there is always the chance of Floyd staying out of harm’s way and the fight going to a decision, but if Floyd does what he is claiming he will do and that is not to run from Oscar and that he intends to exchange with him, it could be a short night for Pretty Boy.

One other thing, in his final teleconference, Floyd said, as he likes to say, “I am The Greatest!” “Whenever the names of Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali are mentioned, my name is always brought up.”  This guy should try a little humble pie.  I talk to a lot of boxing people, strange, whenever we speak of Sugar Ray and Ali, I have never heard the name Pretty Boy brought up.  He doesn’t even make my top twenty-five of the greatest, he is a guy who I saw get beat in his first fight with lightweight, Jose Luis Castillo, Floyd received a gift decision in their first bout, although he did win the rematch with ease.  Who has Pretty Boy beaten to think he belongs in the same breath as Sugar Ray and Ali?   Both Sugar Ray and Ali fought the very best of their time, Ray fought 202 times while Muhammad went to bat 61 times.  Most of Ali’s bouts were with the best and biggest punchers of the heavyweight division.  Zab Judah is probably the biggest name on Floyd’s dance card, a guy who invented “The Funky Judah” when he was brutally stopped in two rounds by Kostya Tzsyu.  Floyd has indicated that this will be his last fight; he has only had thirty-seven fights…”The Greatest”…Please!!!

I cannot even begin to imagine Oscar losing, but stranger things have happened, a bad decision, an injury, a bad cut, who knows?  If everything goes the way I see it, Oscar De La Hoya will be the victor in what should be an exciting confrontation, both Oscar and Floyd will be in tremendous shape when they take center stage.  I have been hearing that the fight may be the biggest revenue fight in the history of boxing.  Golden Boy Promotions have opened new doors in promoting, the ads, the sponsors, etc. are all new things that will in all probability make this fight the highest grossing fight ever.  Oscar and his Golden Boy team will emerge as the top promotional team in boxing, and well they should be, they have worked very hard to be where they are.

In 1992, I began my radio boxing show career on the McDonnell-Douglas show at KMPC, later, I would later spin off with my own show, it would be the first ever radio call-in boxing show ever heard in the Los Angeles area, I take great pride in having originated the show while at KMPC.  1992 would also be the year Oscar De La Hoya began his professional boxing career, I learned early on of a thirteen year old phenom from ELA from my boyhood idol, Enrique Bolanos, he told me to keep an eye on him, that he was indeed something special, that young boy was Oscar De La Hoya.    Years later, I followed his meteoric rise from the Olympics to the professional ranks.  I was quick to recognize the boxing greatness that would eventually catapult the young kid from East LA to the top of the boxing world.  A lot of knowledgeable boxing writers were quick to write that the gold medal winner would be a sort of flash in the pan, hence the birth of the Oscar haters, not I, I developed a solid friendship with the young man with the movie star looks, I had him on my show on numerous occasions in the beginning all through my twelve year radio career.  While working for ESPN, the highlight of Oscar’s appearances on my show came the night he would join me as my two-hour in-studio guest at the ESPN Center in Downtown Disneyland.  The crowd was so immense that they had to rope off the area in order to contain the huge throng of his adoring fans.  It was as though a famous rock star had entered the building.  Oscar was as always, very accommodating to his loyal fans, even going out right into their midst during breaks in the show.  He was then, and is now, very grateful for his vast legion of fans, they come first and always have.  Since my radio career has been on hold, I do not see Oscar as often as I once did, but he knows that my alliance to him is as strong as ever, it has never wavered.  He has on occasion told me that he has always remembered that I was one of the very few members of the media that was there for him from the very beginning, when it somehow became fashionable for some of the media press to try and find fault with him.  Oscar De La Hoya is no fool, he is very aware who those have been loyal to him from the very beginning, and he is well aware of those who haven’t.  Throughout his career, he has continued to show those who do not know boxing and those of the boxing world who do that he was the real thing, an extremely talented young man who was granted a God given boxing ability that only the great ones have been fortunate enough to possess.  Being someone who loves the Lord, it is not surprising that Oscar has truly been blessed during his young lifetime, his undying love for his mother, Cecilia, guides him, his face lights up whenever he speaks of her.  Oscar’s charitable deeds for the very unfortunate have taken on a life of their own, I happen to know of a few wonderful deeds Oscar has done for a few underprivileged people that he never wanted publicized and saw to it that it never was.  Long after his boxing days are over, Oscar De La Hoya will continue to help the less fortunate, it is what his beloved mother would have wanted, he is his Mother’s Son.  I speak from my close association with Oscar; he is every thing he appears to be, kind, giving, unselfish and is without a doubt, everything a role model to young kids should be.  If I sound like an aficionado of Oscar’s…yes I am.

Oscar is a young 34 years of age mainly because he has never given in to the vices of liquor and drugs, he could fight for a few more years, but I believe with all that he has already accomplished in boxing and being the very successful president of Golden Boy Promotions, this could very well be his swan song to the sport he has loved and the sport that has loved him.  Beating the reigning pound for pound fighter in boxing would be an appropriate way to go out. 

I make no bones about my admiration for the Golden Boy for what he has done for boxing and outside of it.  I consider Oscar De La Hoya a very good friend, I started out with him in 1992, win, lose or draw…I will finish with him!

The fight can be seen on HBO PPV