Mosley
escapes with close decision
LAS
VEGAS (AP) -- Sugar Shane Mosley came on
in the late rounds again Saturday night
to beat Oscar De La Hoya for the second
time in three years, winning a close but
unanimous decision to take the WBC and WBA
154-pound titles.
De
La Hoya was leading on two scorecards and
even on a third midway through the fight,
but Mosley won the last five rounds on two
cards and the last four on a third. The
decision left De La Hoya bitterly disappointed
and talking about a possible protest.
"It
happened in the (Felix) Trinidad fight and
it happened here," De La Hoya said.
"I thought I won the fight. I didn't
even think it was close."
All
three judges did, though, scoring it 115-113
for Mosley, who won a split decision the
first time the two met in June 2000. The
Associated Press had Mosley winning 116-113.
In
a fight almost as close as the first one,
Mosley was the busier and faster fighter,
beating De La Hoya to the punch and staying
away from the left hook De La Hoya used
to knock out his last two opponents.
"I
thought I won by one or two rounds,"
Mosley said. "He gave me a lot of movement.
I knew I hurt him. He never hurt me."
The
fight meant far more to De La Hoya than
a few gaudy belts. He vowed before the bout
to retire if he
lost again to Mosley.
"I
love the sport. I love boxing. I love fighting
like a warrior," he said. "I'm
not sure what will happen."
Just
like the first fight, Mosley was fresher
and faster in the later rounds, while De
La Hoya looked weary and tried to win rounds
by fighting in flurries in the final seconds.
The
fight before a sellout crowd of 16,268 at
the MGM Grand hotel was billed as redemption
for De La Hoya, who lost to Mosley when
both were young amateurs and again when
they met as pros.
But
it turned more into vindication for Mosley,
whose career hit the skids when he lost
twice to Vernon Forrest and who hadn't won
a fight in more than two years.
"I
think it could warrant a third fight whenever
he wants to do it," Mosley said.
De
La Hoya wasn't so willing.
"No,
he beat me twice," he said. "That's
it."
Mosley
was the aggressor throughout, though he
pressed the action only in spurts. By the
late rounds, though, he was putting on more
pressure, and the fighters went toe-to-toe
in a hotly paced final round before the
bell rang and they hugged like two warriors
who had given their all.
De
La Hoya was guaranteed $17 million, though
he agreed to pay Mosley $500,000 of that
if he lost. By winning, Mosley pocketed
$5 million to avenge one of only two defeats
in a remarkable career in which he has won
titles in five weight classes and earned
some $150 million in the ring.
By
the 12th round, that desperation seemed
to show as De La Hoya came out and the two
met in the center of the ring and threw
punches almost nonstop for the first minute.
"We
were never concerned in the corner,"
De La Hoya's trainer, Floyd Mayweather,
said. "We never even thought of losing.
It never crossed our minds."
There
were questions about Mosley's power at 154
pounds, a weight he had gone only two full
rounds at before. But he seemed to land
the bigger punches and had a big ninth round
where he rocked De La Hoya on several occasions.
"I
felt such overwhelming power throughout
the fight," Mosley said.
Punch
stats showed De La Hoya landed 221 punches
to 127 for Mosley, though most of Mosley's
punches were power punches while De La Hoya's
were jabs.
The
partisan De La Hoya crowd packed the hotel
arena looking for the fight of the year.
De La Hoya was a 2-1 favorite, and he said
he had found a way to negate Mosley's speed
in the rematch.
The
first few rounds were fought cautiously,
but the tempo of the fight seemed to pick
up after De La Hoya (39-3, 29 knockouts)
was cut next to his right eye during a clash
of heads early in the fourth round. By the
end of the fifth round, the fighters were
going at it toe-to-toe, much to the pleasure
of the crowd.
"You
let him steal that round," Mosley's
father, Jack, told his son after the fifth
round.
"No
I didn't," Mosley replied.
De
La Hoya was bleeding from the fourth round
on from a cut next to his right eye caused
by the head butt. But it never seemed to
affect his vision in a fight that had no
knockdowns.
Midway
through the fight, Jack Mosley was urging
his son to press the action so De La Hoya
couldn't win a close decision.
It
proved to be wise fatherly advice.
"My
father was trying to convey to me since
we're in Las Vegas and it's Oscar's town
we had to pour it on in the last rounds,"
Mosley said.
Mosley
(39-2, 35 knockouts) did just that, pressing
the action and dictating the tempo.
Mosley
had been unhappy about his purse, threatening
not to sign a contract until De La Hoya
agreed to give him the extra $500,000 if
he won. At the end of the fight he was that
much richer, but money wasn't everything.
"I
would have been heartbroken to lose in the
ring after losing the negotiations outside
the ring," Mosley said.
"I
thought I won by one or two rounds,"
Mosley said. "He gave me a lot of movement.
I knew I hurt him. He never hurt me."
-- Oscar De La Hoya
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