Oscar De La Hoya could not be blamed for being upset. He just dropped another close decision to Shane Mosley.
This one, unlike the first, could have gone either way. He just looked at numbers that said he outlanded Sugar Shane by almost 100 punches. He just arrived at a postfight press conference where his promoter, Bob Arum, described Mosley's win as a robbery.
De La Hoya, who has carried the boxing industry on his back over the last half-decade, was upset.
So I will give Oscar a pass for announcing, immediately after the fight Saturday, that he would launch a "full investigation" into the judge's decision. He was emotional. But that pass will be revoked if The Golden Boy actually goes through with it, once he has cooled down.
After losing to the same man twice for the first time in his professional career, Oscar appeared at the postfight press conference with a bandage on the right side of his face, covering the cut opened by a clash of heads during the fight. No sooner did De La Hoya make known his litigious intentions than someone yelled out "sore loser!" The now former junior middleweight champ answered, "I'm not doing this because I'm a sore loser. I'm doing this for the sport of boxing."
Funny, De La Hoya was not so concerned with "the sport of boxing" when he was awarded a lopsided decision in a close fight against Pernell Whitaker, despite Whitaker outlanding him by more than 40 punches. No investigation there. Oscar likewise decided -- after much deliberation, I'm sure -- not to investigate after he was awarded a decision against Ike Quartey in a fight that could have gone either way.
Going into Mosley-De La Hoya II, there were several questions, and those key answers would determine the outcome of the fight.
For De La Hoya: Trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. was not yet with Oscar for The Golden Boy's first fight with Shane. Would Mayweather's roll-and-counter technique -- which De La Hoya had employed in recent fights and which involves closing the distance between Oscar and his opponent -- be effective against a body puncher as accomplished as Mosley? Would De La Hoya again tire down the stretch?
For Mosley: Did he still have the hand speed to beat De La Hoya to the punch? Would he concentrate on De La Hoya's body? Did he have the frame to carry the 154-pound weight and take the junior middleweight champ's punch?
Here are the answers Mosley-De La Hoya II gave us:
Both Oscar and Shane looked fast and sharp with their hands, but Shane's edge in hand speed was not as pronounced as it was the first time they met. It was actually Shane, and not Oscar, who moved less on his feet and relied more on his upper body movement to slip punches. Shane did concentrate more on Oscar's body than he did in their first fight, and, perhaps as a result, Oscar again faded down the stretch.
It was the kind of fight that could have ended in a draw. My scorecard read 116-112 (eight rounds to four) for Mosley. Ringside scores generally ranged from my count in favor of Mosley, to 115-113 (seven rounds to five) for De La Hoya.
Interestingly, it became apparent after the fight that those watching on television tended to favor De La Hoya. This may be because on TV it is easier to judge accuracy and subtle defensive moves, while in person it is easier to gauge a punch's force. Oscar apparently landed a great many more punches -- a very surprising fact to many of us watching ringside, where it seemed the punch output was more or less even. But Shane seemed to land the harder shots, especially with the right hand to the body.
It was that right to the body that was the difference in the fight on my scorecard. Shane started using it early and used it consistently. There were several rounds that were essentially even, but I felt Shane had the advantage as a result of those right-handed bodyshots.
The judges were unanimous on six rounds, which means that they disagreed on the six others. Of the rounds on which they agreed, four went to Shane, two to Oscar. In close fights, generally the fighter who wins more rounds decisively gets the decision. The harder-to-score rounds are usually more or less evenly divided, so the edge in decisive rounds often times determines the winner.
In this case, the rule held for the new junior middleweight champion of the world, Sugar Shane Mosley.
The 154-pound division is suddenly the hottest in boxing. If a rematch with De La Hoya proves difficult for Shane to land, there is always a tantalizing matchup with Fernando Vargas, or a sizzling superfight (at least for boxing fans) with welterweight champ Ricardo Mayorga, or a third encounter with two-time Mosley conqueror Vernon Forrest, or a title defense against top and much-avoided contender Winky Wright, or even a showdown with the biggest and baddest opponent in the weight neighborhood -- middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins. Felix Trinidad could always come back once his contract with Don King expires. And there are several other good contenders at 154, like J.C. Candello, Verno Phillips and Kassim Ouma.
Oscar, for his part, said he would retire if he lost to Mosley again. He has all the money in the world. He is young, good-looking, shows no signs yet of any ill-effects from a long amateur and professional boxing career. And with the exception of his first fight with Mosley, he has never lost decisively despite fighting the very best of his era. He has every reason to retire.
Of course, as selfish boxing fans, we hope that he remains active. Maybe he gives Shane another try. Maybe he talks Tito out of retirement. Maybe he calms down and realizes he lost a close fight.
If Oscar in fact launches an "investigation," let us hope that what is revealed is that Arum or perhaps De La Hoya's father, Joel, is actually prodding him to do it. Because if this "investigation" is Oscar's idea, the only thing that will come to light is that our Golden Boy is a spoiled sport.
Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" and the host of the show "Around The Horn."