After his loss to Bernard Hopkins in September of 2004, Oscar stayed out of the ring for 20 months. He announced in January of 2006, that he would return to the 154 lb. weight division for his next bout. The opponent of choice turned out to be Ricardo Mayorga, the Nicaraguan fighter with an insulting tongue. The pre-fight banter was cruel from Mayorga, calling De La Hoya and his trainer names, making for bad blood by the time the fight came around.
I went over my sister’s house to watch this one on pay-per-view, because I wanted to use her computer to do research for health insurance I was buying. She didn’t care if I watched the fight there, and I just gave her a check to pay for the card. My older brother came to watch it as well, and we were both anxious to see how Oscar looked after such a long time out of action.
De La Hoya dropped Mayorga less than two minutes into the opening round, and dominated the action in every round. Mayorga had a big mouth, but his skills were limited, and he couldn’t handle Oscar’s speed and power. In the sixth, two combinations floored him again, and after getting up, was nailed with a 20 punch barrage of blows, forcing the referee to call a halt to the bout.
It was good to see to Oscar look so good for the first time in a very long time. He was now the WBC Super-welterweight champion, and on top of the boxing rankings again. Fans are quick to forget losses, and when a favorite wins, forgive their past defeats, and welcome them back to the limelight. I was no different, and went home happy Oscar was a champ again, and had shut up Mayorga, a fighter I just couldn’t stand.
As the year of 2006 quickly passed, rumors of a mega-bout between Oscar and welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather started to surface. Mayweather planned to move up to the 154 lb. division to challenge De La Hoya for his title. When the fight was agreed upon for May of 2007 in Las Vegas, it was one I looked forward to with cautious optimism, hoping Oscar could beat my absolute least favorite fighter of all time.
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