The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire

By GorDoom

Tonight I watched a Brinks heist ... In the past the Ol' Spit Bucket has felt that Oscar was gifted with decisions against Sweet Pea & Ike. This time the Golden Boy, in my not so humble opinion, was jobbed.

   I will let the CBZ posse vent their opinions (at this point I don't know what they are), but I had it 117-114  for Oscar. I thought Oscar took Tito to school for the first 8 rounds. He lost focus over the last four, losing three
of them, but he cake walked through the first eight.

   Biz wise, this sets up perfectly for a rematch - which is not neccesarily a bad thang ... But, even Mrs. Bucket, who is hardly a hard core boxing fan couldn't believe the decision.

   But hey, that's just my opinion ... I'll let the CBZ crew voice their own.

Bucket

TRINIDAD DECISIONS DELAHOYA
Golden Boy gives away easy win by sitting on lead

By Chris Bushnell

Oscar DelaHoya's first professional loss was inevitable.   Despite a sterling record of 31-0/25 knockouts, even the Golden Boy must have known that the streak would have to end eventually.  All professional fighters lose at some point in their careers...but who would have thought it would happen like this? 

In a fight that he appeared to be winning easily, DelaHoya committed one of boxing's cardinal sins:  sitting on a lead.  Trying to run out the clock, Oscar DelaHoya gave away enough of the final rounds to sway the three judges to score a majority decision for Puerto Rico's newest national hero: Felix Trinidad.

The night began very differently than it ended.  Entering the ring, Felix Trinidad and his entourage ran into trouble attempting to enter the ring.  Security seemed unable to clear a path to the ring, and Team Tito was stuck in the aisle for close to 5 minutes.  Mired in traffic, Trinidad began looking around the arena.  As he scanned the crowd of celebrities, sports stars and DelaHoya groupies, the magnitude of the circumstances sank in.  Looking a bit overwhelmed and unsettled, Trinidad eventually made it to the ring.  By the time DelaHoya exited his dressing room, his aisle to the ring was completely clear.

Further delays lurked after Michael Buffer's laundry list of introductions when, immediately prior to the referee's final instructions, Trinidad's corner realized that they did not have a mouthpiece for their fighter.  Frantic searching of bags produced nothing.  Security raced between the dressing room and the ring.  For several long minutes, it looked as though the delay might throw off both fighters. 

Eventually a mouthpiece was found and the match began.  The tension was thick and both men began by showing maximum respect.  Very few punches were thrown in the first round, and even fewer landed.  Both men stared at each other, sizing up the opposition, and circling.  DelaHoya launched a brief flurry towards the end of the opening frame, amounting to the entire offense of the first three minutes.  It was a round of deference.  Neither man wanted to be the first to catch.

In the second round, DelaHoya established the rhythm of the fight by laying out his gameplan: box, box and box some more.  Although more respect and distance plagued this round, DelaHoya fired off his first jabs of the night. 
The stinging punch instantly bloodied Trinidad's nose, and by the end of the round had stained Felix's white silk shorts with crimson polka-dots. 

At the end of the second stanza, DelaHoya launched a crisp right hand that caught Trinidad flush.  Unlike his usual pushing and ineffective right hands, DelaHoya had worked hard on his biggest weakness in camp and it showed.  Throughout the night, DelaHoya was able to land and do damage with the most effective right hand he has ever displayed.   It surprised Trinidad as much as the fans, and between rounds Tito's confusion was apparent.

Having tasted success in brief flashes, DelaHoya now set out to put on a boxing clinic.   Firing the best jab of his career, DelaHoya fired the punch in rapid succession all night into Trinidad's face.  Always moving, Oscar was
setting a deadly, if dramaless, rhythm.  On his toes and forcing Trinidad to give chase, DelaHoya jabbed and flurried in bursts. 

But it wasn't just his offense that was giving DelaHoya round after early round in the books.  His defense was superb, as he expertly ducked numerous Trinidad straight rights, slipped Trinidad's own heavy jab with ease, and
blocked some of Trinidad's biggest haymakers with his gloves.  Frustrated, Trinidad attempted to pick up the pace in the fourth and fifth rounds, and began landing more.   But Felix was mostly headhunting, landing only one
significant body shot in the first half of the fight, and often missing.  Although Trinidad touched Oscar for the first time in the fifth, DelaHoya landed several big right hands, including one at the bell that began to swell Trinidad's left eye badly.

In the sixth, DelaHoya was boxing beautifully.  Although the crowd thirsted for more exchanges, DelaHoya's gameplan was working beautifully.  Trinidad was looking increasingly desperate, his chasing of DelaHoya was becoming more frantic, and he was missing wildly.  DelaHoya made him pay when he missed, and showed wonderful self discipline by getting out of harm's way before Trinidad could return.  Although the first round could have been scored even, and the fourth and fifth were close, Boxing Chronicle.com had DelaHoya up 6
rounds to nothing halfway through the fight.  So complete was DelaHoya's performance that Trinidad was beginning to look outclassed.

DelaHoya's ring generalship was on display, and continued into the seventh and eighth rounds, as his lateral movement and flurries were racking up points.  In the eighth, Oscar dug hard to Trinidad's body, the first
effective shots thrown downstairs all night.  He repeated the feat early in the ninth by four times reaching down and landing a four punch combination to Trinidad's sides and capping off with an uppercut or right hand.  Trinidad looked to be softening up at this point, and a DelaHoya knockout seemed imminent.

And then, Oscar DelaHoya made a mistake that will haunt him.  Inexplicably, he began to sit on his lead.  With Trinidad's desperation growing (fueled by his nervous father in between rounds), the chase sped up.  DelaHoya's lateral movement turned into running, as he avoided the incoming, but offered nothing in return.  The crowd booed.

In the tenth and eleventh, DelaHoya took a page from Ray Leonard's book, hopping on his bike, and running from Trinidad for most of the round, and then attempting to steal the frame with flurries in the final 15 seconds of
the round.  Although these combinations led to the only toe to toe exchanges of the fight, they were not enough to thieve the round.  Trinidad's deficit was shrinking, and the fight was getting closer on the cards.

Going into the twelfth and final round, the expectations on DelaHoya were high.  In a fight devoid of much action, and getting tighter in scoring, everyone felt Oscar would now duplicate the exciting finishes that have defined his usual final-round style.  After all, he had been saving himself up in the tenth and eleventh....right?

But instead of making a final definitive statement, Oscar again got on the racing track and ran out the clock.  As Trinidad chased, DelaHoya threw no punches.  It was startling.  Trinidad was encouraged by this inactivity, and
landed his best shots of the night: three consecutive right crosses that swiveled DelaHoya's head and once and for all established the strength of Oscar's chin.

At the final bell, DelaHoya immediately raised his arms, confident that he had beaten Trinidad despite sacrificing the final four rounds by running.  Certainly the crowd, if not Trinidad himself, assumed the same thing.  DelaHoya losing a decision in Vegas seemed like an impossibility.  And then the scores were read.

The first score had the fight 114-114.  The deciding cards read 115-114 and 115-113 for the new WBC and IBF welterweight champion.....FELIX TRINIDAD.  It was shocking.

Boxing Chronicle.com scored the fight 116-112 for DelaHoya...giving Oscar the first eight rounds and Trinidad the final four.  But with the first round a likely 10-10 snoozer and rounds four and five very close, the fight was
certainly close enough to swing either way.  But who would have guessed it would swing to Tito?

Upon hearing the announcement, Trinidad (now 36-0/31) was overtaken by emotion.   Crying tears of joy, he jubilantly screamed out for his fans in Puerto Rico.   DelaHoya, surprisingly, was all smiles...insisting he had won,
but seeming to realize that he had no one to blame but himself for his first professional defeat.  In a fight that DelaHoya seemed to be on his way to winning away, he played safe in the unsafest sport of all...and paid the
price.  Tempting fate with the judges scorecards can be more dangerous than dropping your hands.  Oscar should have known better.

And so what now?  While "rematch" is the word on everyone's lips, I wouldn't expect it to happen too soon. 

If Trinidad stays at 147, he will almost certainly fight fellow Don King stablemate James Page for his WBA welterweight title before stepping back in the ring with DelaHoya.   Trinidad would be heavily favored against Page and three belts would only stoke the pot for the lucrative rematch.  Another option for Trinidad is to move up to 154...a move he had planned as much as two years ago.  Such a move would not only be ripe with enticing matchups, but would force DelaHoya to chase Trinidad for redemption.

DelaHoya (31-1/25) may himself move up to 154 first, and pick up a title to have while waiting for Trinidad.  Or he may stay at 147, a weight he made easily, and face Shane Mosley in a pound for pound megafight.  Or he may retire altogether.  With over $100 million in career earnings (including $21 million plus percentage of sales for this fight), his looks still intact, DelaHoya may choose to retire to the easy life.   Although deep inside he will
be desperate for revenge, DelaHoya was oddly at ease with his loss, satisfied in his own head that he had won.  Announcing that he would take a vacation and spend time with his family, DelaHoya will likely not return to the ring until mid-2000.

And so now boxing has a new welterweight kingpin, a new pound for pound best, and a most interesting future.  With Don King now controlling the division titles, with DelaHoya locked out of the 147 lb. title picture until Tito
decides otherwise, and with Felix Trinidad finally capturing mainstream attention....there will be no shortage of intrigue in the months to come.

Hang on boxing fans, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

-On an excruciating undercard, Mia St. John continued her quest to make women's boxing a laughing stock with her third round knockout of Kelley Downey. Downey was exhausted after two rounds and was blinded by her own hairdo for most of the fight.

-Butterbean continued his own sideshow with a knockout of insurance salesman Ken Craven in the second round. Combined with the St. John fiasco, these two boxing carnival acts had no business being on the same card with DelaHoya-Trinidad. With a possible record number of pay per view homes watching, wouldn't Top Rank have been better served featuring some of their legitimate fighters?

-Russian cruiserweight champ Vassiliy Jirov scored a 10th round knockout on body blows (his specialty) after proving that his defense is lacking. Previously undefeated challenger Dale Brown was able to smack Jirov at will,
but didn't have the power to earn respect.

-Oscar exposed! Not in the fight...at the weigh in. When ESPN2 positioned it's live cameras high in the rafters of the Mandalay Bay arena to cover DelaHoya's weigh-in, they had no idea that they would have the perfect angle
to photograph a nude DelaHoya on the scale. Indeed, as both east and west coasts aired the weigh-in live on Friday Night Fights, there was Oscar's manhood...available for all to see. Someone is going to get fired over that
one.

.....Chris Bushnell
http://www.boxingchronicle.com

Throwing it All Away: De La Hoya Gives His Title To Trinidad

By Thomas Gerbasi

Fight of the Millenium? This wasn’t even Fight of the Year. Before a sold out crowd at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and millions of viewers on Pay-Per-View, Oscar De La Hoya lost his WBC welterweight title to IBF boss Felix "Tito" Trinidad via a 12 round majority decision. Notice that I didn’t say Trinidad beat De La Hoya, because he didn’t. After a masterful eight rounds of boxing, in which De La Hoya boxed, moved, jabbed, and did everything short of depositing Tito on the seat of his pants, Oscar decided to get on his bicycle and ride away from his title and his unbeaten record.

The judges’ scorecards read as follows: Glen Hamada 114-114, Bob Logist 115-114, and Jerry Roth 115-113. This reporter scored it 115-114 in favor of De La Hoya. This score was arrived at after Oscar won six of the first eight rounds. I scored round nine even, with Trinidad sweeping the final three frames.

De La Hoya (31-1) fought the perfect fight through the first eight rounds. Was it exciting? Not particularly. But to a boxing fan, it was as dominating a performance as you will witness. "The Golden Boy" used footwork which I didn’t think he had in him, making Trinidad chase him like the IRS on April 15. Unfortunately for Trinidad, the IRS always gets their man. Trinidad’s nose was bloodied, his left eye was swollen, and at the end of eight rounds, he looked worn and defeated. Crisp combinations from De La Hoya, though infrequent, were enough to rock Tito back on his heels and steal rounds. A thought to be non-existent right hand also found its mark with alarming frequency, and a crisp jab left the blood thirsty disappointed, but Oscar in control.

The tide started to change in the ninth round. Oscar started things off with a crisp four punch combination, but Trinidad began to land more punches, though they were inconsequential in nature. De La Hoya then began to move more and throw less. This pattern continued throughout the final three rounds, with Oscar looking more like Carl Lewis than Joe Louis. Trinidad’s aggression carried the championship rounds, and some solid right hands sealed the deal for the Puerto Rican hero in round twelve.

But despite the boos directed toward De La Hoya, I don’t think anyone expected him to lose. Never have I seen such an unimpressive victory than the one gained by Felix Trinidad tonight. And while a strong finish by Oscar would have won him not only the fight, but the respect of the non-believers in the boxing community, his performance in the final 12 minutes of the biggest fight of his career will do nothing to dispel the "Chicken" De La Hoya comments from his detractors.

As for Felix Trinidad, hopefully he will not allow Don King to put the WBC/IBF titles under wraps with fights against the various pretenders in the welterweight division. Like De La Hoya, Trinidad’s reputation has suffered a hit with his immensely disappointing performance. He showed poor balance, an inability to cut off the ring , and traces of a weak chin, as he was rocked on a number of occasions. Only a rematch will restore the luster to both fighters’ reputations. My early pick...De La Hoya by KO within five rounds.

The pre-fight hype compared De La Hoya-Trinidad to 1981’s Leonard-Hearns I. Late in the fight, with his charge losing on points, and with his eye swelling shut, Angelo Dundee told Sugar Ray Leonard "You’re blowing it son."

Oscar De La Hoya blew it tonight.

Trinidad Out-Hussles A Cocky De La Hoya
By Francis Walker

As expected, last Saturday in Las Vegas, undefeated IBF welterweight champion, Felix "Tito" Trinidad (36-0, 31KOs), took the WBC 147-pound title from an arrogant "Golden Boy," Oscar De La Hoya (30-1, 25KOs), via 12-round majority decision. Though a surprise to many, "The Fight of the Millennium" was an excellent display of tactical boxing skills by a pair of 26-year-old, Latino titlists entering the primes of their careers. A cocky De La Hoya, who easily had Trinidad on the losing-end, ran out of gas and courage during the bout's
most crucial period - The last four rounds.

"The Fight of the Millennium," which was perhaps the most anticipated welterweight title fight since Sugar Ray Leonard's dramatic come-from-behind stoppage of Thomas Hearns (TKO 14), was promoted by Bob Arum of Top Rank, Inc., and televised on "TVKO Pay-Per-View" from HBO at a suggested retail of $49.95.

Trinidad, who entered the contest wearing  all-white slacks and wide-collared shirt with a straw hat, danced down the isle to the sounds of Fat Joe and Big Pun, was very calm and quite relaxed. De La Hoya on the
other hand, wore an all blue robe, with white trimming. He was all-business.

As a stalling tactic, Trinidad's camp, wearing all white with Puerto Rican colors, left the dressing room without their champion's mouth piece, which also had Puerto Rican colors.

By the time both fighters locked-horns, it was about 12:30 am - Well over 45 minutes from the start of a usual Pay-Per-View main event.

From jump, it was clear that Trinidad's left jab was stronger that that of De La Hoya's. De La Hoya danced behind his left-jab looking to keep close in the fight, but away from Trinidad's double-fistic power. However,
round-by-round, things would slowly begin to pick up.

De La Hoya, whose game plan was to box Trinidad and capitalize on his mistakes, danced around in circles the whole night. Trinidad, who is not as smooth as De La Hoya, tried to cut the ring off and force De La Hoya's back across the ropes and just hammer away. But De La Hoya was fast enough to use his shoulders and gloves to block and switch his body towards the opposite direction.

De La Hoya's boxing ability frustrated Trinidad, who was looking to land that one-big left hook that would send De La Hoya sprawling in pain onto the canvas.

De La Hoya managed to stun Trinidad with double-hooks and uppercuts, but Trinidad kept up with De La Hoya and manged to plant straight-shots right on "The Golden Boy's" pretty kisser.

For the most part, fans were silent, but they started to boo and holler when it became clear that De La Hoya was running away from Trinidad.

Although De La Hoya was clearly sprinting in circles, he was winning the fight. From the fifth round on, De La Hoya continuously used his hand-speed to land sharp left-jabs and quick flurries. However, De La Hoya's blows did not have the same impact as Trinidad's. "Tito's" power was indeed a decisive factor in the tide of the battle.

De La Hoya was on the verge of pulling-off what looked to be his most impressive performance as a professional. Disappointingly enough, De La Hoya, who knew he was winning, became cocky and arrogant by dancing around the ring in circles while hardly throwing any punches in the closing rounds.

As is his custom, Trinidad became stronger in the latter rounds. Trinidad's hard right-hands to De La Hoya's body forced the soon-to-be ex-WBC kingpin to back-pedal and wince in pain. Trinidad's single left-jabs found their mark, as De La Hoya did not have enough gas to counter. Nor did he have the courage to even attempt to stop Trinidad dead in his tracks as before.

Instead, De La Hoya tried to coast home with a victory he had in his back pocket, which he then let a smart thief take it from him. Better yet, why not just give Trinidad the wallet? It's not like De La Hoya can't get another one. How cocky a man, a world-class fighter, can become during a time of clear, but unpromised victory?

At the end of twelve, one judge scored the bout 114-114 even. Whereas the other two scores of 115-114, 115-113 went to Trinidad.

So what is next? Rematch? Well if Trinidad's promoter Don King is willing to work with De La Hoya's promoter Arum again, of course there will be a rematch. As of press time, Trinidad seeks to unify the world welterweight
title with WBA champ, James Page.

Meanwhile, De La Hoya has a possible showdown with WBC junior middleweight titlst, Francisco Castillejo of Spain scheduled for December 11, in Los Angeles.

In addition: The undercard featured four other bouts. IBF cruiserweight champ, Vassily Jirov (22-0, 20KOs) stopped Dale Brown (18-1-1, 13KOs) in the tenth.

Top-10, super flyweight contender, Eric Morel (23-0, 16KOs) won a unanimous decision over Miguel Angel Granadas (19-9-1, 8KOs) through 12-rounds.

Playboy model, Mia St. John (13-0, 8KOs) remained undefeated by stopping Kelley Downey (3-2, 3KOs) in the fourth and final round.

Last, but certainly not least, "Butterbean" Eric Esch (47-1-2, 36KOs) knocked out Kenny  Craven (12-6).in a "King of the Four-Rounders" heavyweight attraction.

FELIX "TITO" TRINIDAD RALLIES LATE TO GET THE NOD IN A DISAPPOINTING FIGHT

By Jim Trunzo, Courtesy of Electronic Boxing Weekly (www.boxmag.com)

Upcoming Fights

Current Champions

Boxing Journal

On-line Encyclopedia

News

Main Page