Oscar to launch investigation!
By Mike Oliver

Former champion Oscar De La Hoya said after last night disputed loss to Shane Mosley that he would launch an investigation into last night's decision. After first pointing out that "what I have to say now is not against Shane Mosley," the Golden Boy stated: "On Monday I will put a full investigation into this decision. I will put the best lawyers on this. Boxing does not need this anymore...I will put on to my fullest power, an investigation so we will see what happened. The reason why I do this is because of the punch-stat numbers. I actually landed one hundred more punches than he did. I am not doing this because I am a sore loser. I am doing this for boxing. This does not effect my decision about retiring. I will wait until I am settled down and talk to my family before making that decision." When asked whether he felt this was just a bad decision or some sort of conspiracy, De La Hoya responded, "We'll see. I am really going to put may heart and resources into this...We have seen in boxing a lot of bad decisions. I feel for boxing that it's time they stopped. I think that its time for fighters to make a stand and I am the man to do it."
Sunday, September 14 2003

I love boxing, it is my favorite sport in the world, but I am VERY sick of these shitty decisions.

This was a worse decision than the shitty decision in the Mayweather/Castillo fight... and that was a REALLY shitty decision.

uhhh...ice, uhhh...




i agree!!

sosgemini said:

Did you see that crappy decision??? I could not believe it! I was sickened by the whole deal and I wish that I had the strength not to watch boxing anymore... but I don't.

IceNine said:

nope..i dont like man on man action unless it involves me...

but, anytime i see commercials for a fight and they show Don King's fro...i immediatly think that its gonna end up either rigged or with a riot...

Legendary promoter Bob Arum said that he will leave the sport as a result of this horrible decision.

Oscar De La Hoya Gets Robbed
Written By: Boxing Insider - 09.13.2003 12:59 PM

By Tom Donelson

Just when you think that you have seen everything, Boxing continues to the theater of the absurd that occasionally conflict with the courageous performance of its combatants. The De La Hoya-Mosley II was a prime example of this. De La Hoya threw more punches, connected on more punches, and avoided most of Mosley shots. There was no way that De La Hoya lost that fight except in the feverish imagination of the judges, who obviously were not paying attention to what transpired before them. While this was not the worst robbery in the last twenty years for that was reserved for the first Holyfield-Lewis fight- there is no doubt that that De La Hoya was robbed of a rightful victory.

For those of us who actually saw the fight, saw a transformation of a fighter. De La Hoya used superior boxing tactical skills to frustrate Shane Mosley. For the first half of the fight, De La Hoya essentially pitched a shutout as he reduced Mosley to throwing one punch at a time. He was throwing and connecting on two punches for every one that Mosley threw. He used his right hand to nail Mosley consistently behind the left jab that constantly hit Mosley's face. Early in his career, De La Hoya was a left hooker and rarely used his right hand to maximum effect. This night, he used a left jab to dictate the fight as he did against Mosley and the right hand was added to his repertoire. As he has gotten older, De La Hoya has become a more complete fighter.

De La Hoya easily won five of the first six rounds and you could make the case that he won all six and there was no way that he lost all six of the final rounds. While the second half of the fight was closer, De La Hoya was still in command as he successfully maneuvered out of harms way. Only once did De La Hoya back hit the ropes and that for a brief second. Throughout the final six rounds, Mosley would connect on an occasional hard punch; he rarely put combinations together and certainly could not be declared a successful aggressor. Mosley best rounds were the eighth, ninth, and the eleventh. These were the only rounds that Mosley won outright. The final round was close and you could have scored it either way even though I gave the nod to Mosley. You would be hard press to find two other rounds to give to Mosley just to declare it a draw.

Boxing is full of bad decisions. The first Joe Louis-Jersey Joe Walcott would go down as one of the all time worst as the great Joe Louis went down twice and was easily out boxed by the clever Jersey Joe Walcott before being declared the winner. (He took matters in his hand in their second fight as he knocked out Walcott in the later rounds.) The second worst decision was the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield I. The latter saw Lewis easily out punching Holyfield and yet one judge manage to have Holyfield ahead by two points and another a draw. (The latter judge later admitted that he goofed but too late to give Lewis his rightful victory.)

Then there was the Julius Cesar Chavez- Pernell Whitaker. Whitaker gave the great Chavez a boxing lesson only to have the fight declared a draw and for a fighter as popular as De La Hoya; this would be the second controversial fight that he lost. The Trinidad fight was similar to this fight as the judges fail to give De La Hoya the benefit of the doubt in the early part of the fight and while there was no doubt that De La Hoya gave the last three rounds away, he easily won most of the early rounds. This fight was no difference and who knows what the officials were looking at. Were they impressed by the occasional right hand or left hook that Shane Mosley landed that shook De La Hoya? No doubt that De La Hoya was nailed with some heavy shots but he also returned the favor and as previously mentioned, there was no doubt who threw the most punches, connected on most punches and who avoided the most punches. De La Hoya demonstrated superior ring generalship and there was no doubt who controlled the tempo of the fight.

Shane Mosley is a courageous and excellent fighter but on this night, he was not at his best. He was given the benefit of doubt and who knows why? Boxing is littered with such decision and there will be many more in the future but somehow in the limelight in which all eyes are on boxing, it becomes a travesty when such an obviously bad decision is paraded before the casual boxing fan. It is these moments that questions are raised about boxing. How can such robbery be perpetrated on such a public event?

After the fight, I turned to my wife and daughter, who just as shocked as I was, and I merely said, "There is no way that the judges should be allowed to judge a fight again." Maybe that is an extreme statement but somewhere boxing will have to start judging the quality of the judges and only reward those who are at least consistent in their decisions. I am not looking for perfection for that is impossible but boxing needs to at least begin the process of judging those men and women who pass judgment on others. If they are not qualified or if they consistently score fights opposite of what others see, then they should be disqualified from the big events. In the meanwhile, De La Hoya should report this robbery to the Las Vegas Police.

Letters to The Editor: De La Hoya - Mosley Fallout
Reported By: Boxing Insider - 09.13.2003 12:57 PM

The following are emails sent to boxinginsider.com with in an hour of the fight ending Saturday Night.

- From reader jtavera:

Was this fight a joke? come on man! there was no doubt...boxing is a joke! We all know who won! This is a disgrace to boxing...

- From reader Gardod00:

What can you say? It's sickening to see a sport completely degraded and a champion athlete stripped of his victory and legacy in a blatant display of money over what matters. It's criminal, but obviously there are so many criminals involved that it will be passed off as legitimate. Oscar De La Hoya was robbed, the boxing fans were robbed, Shane Mosely was made out to be a cheap prostitute rather than the world class athlete he is, (he was also robbed as the whole world witnessed what happened in that ring, he cannot in clear conscience feel good about the extra 1/2 mil he took home)

Sad, mad and ripped off

- From reader Peter Watrous:

Holy lord almighty. I gave up on boxing after the De La Hoya/Trinidad fight, and slowly came back to it. Now, after De La Hoya/Mosley 2 I'm giving up forever, and I'm going to stick to my decision. What's the point of being involved in something so base, so stupid? No wonder boxing in general has such a low viewership. Shame on the sport for not rising up against whatever handed Mosley his ostensible win.

- From reader Tori Murdoch:

Get real. Anyone who saw the fight knows that Oscar won. It wasnt even close. I like Sugar Shane Mosley and even felt bad for him between rounds, but he did not win the fight---not even close...

As a writer, you distort the truth and ultimately hurt boxing by reporting falsehoods such as this article as many casual observers rely on your words for their information.

Take that into consideration before you write another article.

My word is final.

- From reader RSchin:

I am totally appalled by the decision in this fight. I am done with boxing forever. I have been a fan for over 40 years and I have never seen a worst decision in my life. I agree with George Foreman that something is very wrong. I will never watch or promote another boxing match for the rest of my life. This sport is a total joke in the big theme of major league sports. Don King should should be banned from the sport forever. I am sure he was behind this travesty...Bob Arum cannot win. regardless...I hate this sport.

- From Reader WhiTeWaRdy

Nobody in their right mind thinks that Shane Mosley won that fight. I can't believe that some writers try to justify horrible decisions just as this one. People pay $50 to see a great fight. Only to be told that they didn't see what the just saw. I will totally boycott any fight held in Las Vegas, unless this decision is overturned. Shame on those shady judges for ruining yet another memorable fight

- From Reder SCtaylo:

I don't know what fihgt all these people were watching but clearly Mosely won the fight.Delahoya just didn't have what it took at the end of the fight, the last 4 rounds to beat mosely.For all these so called fighting experts I'm sorry your golden boy lost but thats what happens when he's overmatched, outboxed and outclassed, Sorry for ya

- From reader Chen zhenn:

I am outraged by this horrible decision in the delahoya mosley fight everyone who saw the fight knows that Oscar Delahoya won. George Foreman, Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, Harold lederman everyone watching and everyone at home knows oscar won. This was a despicable decision. The sport of boxing has become so crooked and corrupted. I am just disgusted with it. It makes me sick to my stomach. Some thing needs to be done. We need a national boxing commission and they need to start screening these judges. I,ve just sent a long letter to senator John Mccain telling him to please get this national boxing commission and clean up the sport of boxing. In the mean time my heart goes goes to Oscar Delahoya I hope can get the decision over turned. And I hope we could put an end to all this corruption.

- From Reader Helder:

I think that everone who watches this match again on tape will have no choice but see that oscar had the win because it was so clear. I mean even if you listen to his (Shane's) corner, they think the only way they can win is by KO. Shane is full of shit because he was so surprised, because he knew he had lost the fight. All I have to say is boxing just lost one of it's biggest fans, from know on I'll just stick to MMA.

This fight was weird all the way around. Not only was the decision an absolute travesty, but the actual performance of the boxers was suspiciously under par.

Oscar, known for his speed and precision, was slow and sloppy as all hell throughout the bout. And Mosley, who rebounded from a fair ass-whipping through the earlier half of the fight, seemed to intentionally hold back from taking advantage of De La Hoya's later fatigue and TOTAL obliviousness to Mosley's right hand, which was cocked, but almost never fired the entire event! Mosley could have legitimately won this one, but it almost seemed he didn't try because he knew it'd be given to him. Very odd, indeed.

IN DE LA HOYA'S CORNER: Promoter Arum: I'll retire
www.lvrj.com - September 14, 2003


Always-mercurial boxing promoter Bob Arum said he was so disturbed by the scoring in Shane Mosley's victory over Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden that he plans to retire at the end of the year.

Mosley won a unanimous decision for the WBA and WBC super welterweight titles, with judges Stanley Christodoulou, Duane Ford and Anek Hongtongkam each scoring the bout 115-113.

"I'm out of this," said Arum, 71. "I think this was such a frigging outrage that I'll never be a party to this again."

Arum said he felt Saturday's scoring was worse than that in De La Hoya's first career loss, a highly controversial decision for Felix Trinidad in 1999.

Arum will continue to promote fights scheduled this year, he said, and then retire. Arum said he felt that his fighter, De La Hoya, clearly won, and the promoter said he scored it 116-112 for De La Hoya.

"I can't abide this sport any more; I really can't," Arum said. "I don't want to be involved any more. Let other people carry on. This is my last year and I'll never, ever promote another fight in Nevada.

"I think there was something fishy. I can't say something went on, because how do I know? I don't have any evidence at this point. I'd be making it up. But I think there was something fishy. I think there was something fishy. But again, I don't know. I think. And certainly I don't have any evidence there was something fishy."

Arum said he couldn't attribute the scoring to someone simply seeing things differently than he did.

"Three guys don't have a bad night at the same time and come up with identical scores," Arum said.

Arum noted that the punch statistics were overwhelmingly in De La Hoya's favor. According to CompuBox, De La Hoya outlanded Mosley, 221-127, and connected at a higher percentage, 36 to 26.

"How else do you score a fight?" Arum said.

De La Hoya's outspoken trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said he can understand Arum's frustration. He said "it is an unjust decision," and that De La Hoya has no reason to continue boxing. He said he had not spoken to De La Hoya about that.

"Oscar don't need this no more," Mayweather said. "He did what he had to do to win the fight. Shane stunned him once in a while, but you don't win a fight by stunning a guy. This was wrong."


Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

IceNine said:

Well, at least someone's giving up because of it.

langebleu said:

I really want to not watch boxing because of all the bad decisions, but I love it too much... I just hope for knock outs.

I'm very glad he is standing to it! It is a clear example of abuse of scoring. This should have a large impact on the sport and hopefully its crime element!

How do they repair the bets that have been paid out?

Muse2NOPharaoh said:

They don't... this is why the decision was bad... someone made a LOT of money.

IceNine said:

WOW! So in the land of payoffs. I don't mean vegas. The real money is out to "bookies" and the like. They do not reverse payouts based on reversals?

And I thought Rocky won his original fight against Apollo Creed! Some things never change!

Such a travesty...

Oscar was in superb form... My goodness even Mosley's father told him he was losing.

I cannot watch boxing anymore this is the second time Oscar was shammed..

Corrupt bastards.

sag10 said:

It's always been bent.Especially when there's a world title on the line.

I didn't see this fight, was Don King around?

So what does the winner of this slug-fest have to say for himself? In other sporting events where an individual or team wins despite an unconvincing performance, I have often heard the apparent winner say things like, "They outplayed us" or "We should not have won" or "The win really belongs to them" etc.

Yeah, it's all fixed... money circles... It gets crazy... sometimes...

No where in any of those reports do they bring up all the people that were robbed in a decission in golen boy's favor.
Not sayin it was rite when it happens but damn, i guess the secret is to be the one who whines about it the loudest.
They (the commition) never saw fit to change their vote on
any of the really bad decissions made before, and there have been some truely bad calls made, so i doubt they'll change this one. Just think, if they did that they would prolly have to go back and change quite a few. changing the history of boxing.
Why can't people except things when it's not in their favor.
they like it when it goes their way.

oh my...seems like there's alot of fallout from
this fight. I'm glad Oscar is willing to take on
the judging system. He was clearly robbed of this
decision.

A new scoring system is LONG overdue...

Sorry Ice, the boy simply got that ass whupped!!

Su-gar Shane!!!

Su-gar Shane!!!

billysparxxx said:

No! He didn't Billy.


.
[This message was edited Mon Sep 15 16:16:49 PDT 2003 by sag10]

sag10 said:

Oh Yes!!! He did.

The fight was even up til the 8th, then Sugar won the last 4 rounds. Come on now, just because he messed that pretty face up, don't mean he should win.

That's what he get for trying to have a singing career!!

the Golden Boy ain't so Golden no More.where was the Outcry when "SweatPea" Whitaker got robbed when Fighting De Lay Hoya&also Chavez?? Oscar's Problem as a Fighter is that He Fights One Style&a Cat like Sugar Shane got a some punches in late in Rounds&did enough to keep&Make it close.Sweatpea was a Champion&Lost the same type of way.what goes around comes around.De Lay Hoya's "Sugar Ray Leonard Pass" is over.

Sorry Maxxx, but even the Mosely die-hards are crying foul... my buddies (who all had bets riding on Mosely), even said Oscar was robbed.

When it's this blatant... one must speak up.

Press on Oscar!

June7 said:

Yep.

CompuBox: Oscar outlanded Shane in eleven of the twelve rounds!

By Bob Cannobio -- CompuBox

On Saturday night, Oscar De La Hoya landed 221 of 616 total punches (36%) to 127 of 496 (26%) for Shane Mosley. De La Hoya averaged 10 more punches thrown per round. Oscar's statistical edge was bolstered by his jab. He landed 106 of 296 jabs (36%) to just 33 of 268 (12%) for Mosley, who had outjabbed De La Hoya in their first meeting. This time Mosley dispensed with the jab and focused on landing the harder shots, many to Oscar’s body. Rounds 8-12 were won by Mosley on all cards except for the eighth on Stanley Christodoulou’s tally. However, despite Shane’s second half rally, he outlanded Oscar in just one round, the ninth, 22-19. A breakdown of the power punches connected by round showed Oscar with a 7-3 edge, with 2 rounds even. Give Mosley the benefit of the doubt in the two even rounds and it’s still 7-5 De La Hoya in power connects by round.