05.05.2007: A Tale of Two Legacies

Necrocide · 05-05-2007, 11:55 AM

Submitted this to a newspaper where I live as a freelance thing to preview the big fight tonight. Thought I'd share with my favorite boxing fans. :

A Tale of Two Legacies
by Gavin J. Napier

With apologies to Charles Dickens, it will be the best of times; it will be the worst of times. When the final bell tolls on May 5th, 2007 (or likely May 6th for those of us near the east coast), the career paths of Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will have been radically altered. It's amazing to think that either man could have so much riding on one fight at this point in his career.

One man is boxing pedigree. Seemingly born and bred to be a prize fighter, Floyd Mayweather inherited the genetics and was pushed and trained in ways that make a Kentucky Derby racehorse's life seem leisurely in comparison - all while other kids were learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels. He's confident, to be sure. In fact, he tapdances all over the line between confident and arrogant, then spits on it and stares back at it as he walks away. He's a prize fighter physically and mentally.

He is a 30 year old man, in not only the prime of his career but the prime of his life. Media, fans, and detractors alike question the people he associates himself with. His relationship with his father is a Shakespearean tragedy played out before the world. He is undefeated, but the true extent of his talent remains in question.

It's not enough, they say, that he stopped the tough-as-nails Emmanuel Augustus. Battering Diego Corrales like a rag doll is qualified by Diego's shaky chin. The record books say he beat Castillo, but naysayers throw around words like "robbery" and "gift". He beat Corley and Corley was never really all that great to begin with. He was supposedly walking into the lion's den against fan favorite warrior Arturo Gatti, but the "Pretty Boy" barely broke a sweat in one of the most beautifully savage beatings of recent memory. Even beating Judah and Baldomir with ease haven't been enough.

Now, however, Floyd has his golden ticket, pardon the expression. On May 5th, 2007, he will stand across the ring not from boxing pedigree, but from borderline boxing royalty.

Oscar De La Hoya is the link to boxing's glorious past and manages to be a glimmer of hope for the future. He's a few years older than Floyd at age 34, but the quick smile and soap opera looks remind you that he's not getting old by any stretch of the imagination. It just seems that way because we've all been watching him excel for two decades.

"The Golden Boy" won 223 amateur fights against only 5 losses. He won Olympic Gold (fulfilling a promise to his dying mother) before turning pro and compiling a resume that most prospects can only dream of. He picked up wins over notable beltholders like Troy Dorsey, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jesse James Leija, Hector Camacho, Ike Quartey, Arturo Gatti, and Fernando Vargas. He won championship belts at every weight between super featherweight and middleweight. At times, though, it never seemed to be enough.

He wasn't the blood and guts fighter that the latino nation wanted. He wasn't the reincarnation of Chavez or Duran. Such criticisms did nothing to affect De La Hoya's popularity (or buyrates), but the murmurings were persistant. Oscar has been criticized for fighting "ten rounds of twelve round fights" and for coming up short in big fights in recent years.

The latter criticism came after razor thin losses to Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosely. Nevermind that there's no shame in losing to fighters of such quality, the problem was that De La Hoya actually had the gall to complain after the fights. The man felt he won and wanted to know why others didn't feel the same way. When you consider that the man had spent weeks and months preparing himself to be punched a few hundred times by men that were among the best fighters on the planet, on a stage of millions, being dejected by a close loss or three seems a little more reasonable.

An ill-advised (but profitable) two fight stint at middleweight did little to quiet De La Hoya's detractors. It's tough, however, to take anything away from his decimation of tough guy Ricardo Mayorga. Even the notion that Mayorga isn't a great boxer is overshadowed by the fact that "The Golden Boy" put him on the canvas quickly and reduced Mayorga to little more than sound and fury. And when Oscar De La Hoya stares across the ring at Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on May 5th, he's staring at a little slice of redemption.

With a win, either man can achieve validation that they shouldn't need to begin with. Either Floyd Mayweather becomes legitimate by beating a hall of fame fighter, or Oscar De La Hoya comes up big on the biggest of stages - as an underdog, no less.

With a loss, either man becomes more unfairly characterized. A loss for Mayweather is a gigantic "I told you so" to the brash young man who was recently quoted in ESPN: The Magazine as saying "God love me, and I'm a hell of a fighter." It will "prove" to those looking for "proof" that he was never as good as HBO made him out to be. And a loss for De La Hoya? Just another instance of coming up short on a grand stage. "Proof" to those looking for it that there may have been just a touch more style than substance to the "Golden Boy", who is better suited at age 35 to promoting others than promoting himself.

It's become clear that there's a genuine dislike between Floyd and Oscar in the months leading up to May 5th. After the dust settles, and each man takes stock of their own legacies, they may find they're more alike than either cares to admit.