- 17 hours ago
The HBO Replay from the TVKO fight a week earlier of Pernell Whitaker defending the WBC Welterweight Title against Oscar De La Hoya with both fighters in studio.
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00:00:10Hello again, I'm Jim Lampert.
00:00:12We welcome you to this look back at what was at first the most eagerly anticipated non-heavyweight fight of
00:00:19recent years,
00:00:19and is now one of the most controversial.
00:00:22Here's a chance to draw your own conclusion.
00:00:25We'll show you a full replay of the 12 rounds as Larry Merchant, Roy Jones, and I called them in
00:00:30Las Vegas.
00:00:31We'll take a look back in detail at the scoring of the fight by the three Nevada State judges at
00:00:35ringside.
00:00:36Then we'll bring in both fighters to look back at highlights of the bout and offer their own analysis of
00:00:42what happened.
00:00:42Larry Merchant is here with me, of course.
00:00:44Larry, what most surprised you about Whitaker, De La Hoya?
00:00:48Well, although we thought that Purnell Whitaker might turn the clock back with a serious opponent in front of him,
00:00:56him actually doing that was a little surprising to me.
00:01:00And although Oscar De La Hoya has a big talent and is a dedicated student of the game,
00:01:05it was a little surprising to me as well that he had the maturity to settle for an ugly win
00:01:11if Whitaker wouldn't let him win spectacularly.
00:01:15And it was very surprising that both champions stuck so closely to their scripts that the fight never really exploded.
00:01:23So we got a kind of intriguing tactical drama instead of a war of the worlds.
00:01:30Indeed we did.
00:01:31And that's just the beginning of what is necessarily a complex and complicated discussion.
00:01:35So as we look back now at the entire fight, you might ask yourself these questions.
00:01:41Did De La Hoya's occasional late flurries in the closing seconds of rounds convince you that he had won them?
00:01:47Do the noisy responses of the pro-De La Hoya crowd help to swing the fight in his favor?
00:01:53How would you have scored it?
00:01:54And start with this.
00:01:56Two of the three ringside judges gave the first round to De La Hoya.
00:01:59Does it look that way in hindsight?
00:02:01Your turn now.
00:02:02In Vegas, the drama coalesces in the ring.
00:02:09Tale of the tape.
00:02:11Fornell Whitaker against Oscar De La Hoya.
00:02:14You see the age difference of which so much has been written and said.
00:02:18De La Hoya with a four-inch height advantage.
00:02:20De La Hoya with a four-inch reach advantage.
00:02:24The Nevada Athletic Commission has weighed both fighters in their dressing rooms tonight.
00:02:27And fairly surprisingly, Whitaker tonight weighs 157 pounds.
00:02:33Ten and a half pounds more than at yesterday's weigh-in.
00:02:36De La Hoya only 151.
00:02:39You make anything of that, Roy?
00:02:40No, it's just that Whitaker probably came down from a heavier weight class because Whitaker is older.
00:02:45His body has matured more.
00:02:46And I'm sure he's carrying more weight on an everyday basis than De La Hoya.
00:02:50Let's go, guys.
00:02:51Punch that numbers, Larry.
00:02:53These numbers were taken from two fights in recent years that really meant something to both fighters.
00:03:00For De La Hoya, that was against Chavez and Gonzalez in his last fight.
00:03:05And for Whitaker, it was the rematches with Rivera and McGirt.
00:03:09And you can see that Whitaker was throwing more punches than De La Hoya.
00:03:14De La Hoya landing a higher percentage.
00:03:17You take a look at the jabs here now.
00:03:19And you can see that, once again, higher percentage to De La Hoya, more thrown by Whitaker.
00:03:25Whitaker will have to keep that active to be good in this fight.
00:03:30Rules of the bout with America's scorer, Harold Letterman.
00:03:34The Pernod Whitaker, Oscar De La Hoya, is scheduled for 12 rounds.
00:03:38There is no standing A-Cup, no three-knockdown rule, only a referee to stop the fight.
00:03:42And he can be saved by the belt in the 12th and final round only.
00:03:46Jim.
00:03:48A largely pro-De La Hoya crowd as the challenger.
00:03:51He'll come out first and get ready for this crowd in the Thomas and Mac Center to blow the lid
00:03:58off for Oscar.
00:04:10Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
00:04:15go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
00:04:20go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
00:04:23go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
00:04:24go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,
00:04:24go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go
00:04:36all business as has been the case through the early stages of his professional career
00:04:43remember gold medal in barcelona 1992 23 pro fights 23 wins 20 ko's world championships at
00:04:53135 and 140 now he tries for another one at 147 and pernell whitaker stalls to try to put the
00:05:03pressure on delahoya shouldn't put any pressure on delahoya because delahoya has waited long enough
00:05:13he's waited all this time so what is a few more minutes going to hurt
00:05:26the hour of delahoya or is it the hour of sweet pea whitaker
00:05:57oh
00:06:05oh
00:06:06oh
00:06:07oh
00:06:08oh
00:06:17oh
00:06:20oh
00:06:21oh
00:06:21oh
00:06:21oh
00:06:21oh
00:06:22oh
00:06:22oh
00:06:24oh
00:06:25oh
00:06:25oh
00:06:25oh
00:06:25oh
00:06:26oh
00:06:26oh
00:06:26oh
00:06:39the crowd says no the face says yes
00:06:42renell whitaker demonstrating with his body language he believes
00:06:46these moments belong to him the professional record
00:06:4940 wins the one loss to jose luis ramirez
00:06:52an obvious bogus decision later avenged
00:06:55the draw with chavez obviously should have been a victory for delo i mean for
00:07:00whitaker pernell likes to say i haven't lost a
00:07:02fight since my last amateur defeat 16 years ago
00:07:08let's go to michael buffer
00:07:12ladies and gentlemen from caesar's palace las vegas nevada
00:07:16bob arum's top rank incorporated along with your undisputed undefeated king
00:07:23of beers bloodweiser this buds for you in association with main events monitors
00:07:29presents 12 rounds of boxing for the welterweight championship of the world
00:07:37this battle is sanctioned by the nevada state athletic commission chairman dr elias ganham commissioners
00:07:45nat caroselli lorenzo fertita luther mack and dr james nade executive director mark ratner
00:07:53physicians in attendance at ringside are dr flip homansky dr james wish game dr al capanna and dr charles
00:08:01signorino the time keepers at the bell and counting for the knockdown seconds are jane broadfoot and mike lachella
00:08:08this bout is also sanctioned by the world boxing council president jose sulliman wbc supervisor at ringside john morris
00:08:18the three judges scoring this bout on a 10 point must system are chuck jampa jerry roth and dolby shirley
00:08:27and when the bell rings your referee in charge of the action mills lane
00:08:37and now ladies and gentlemen for the thousands in attendance here in las vegas
00:08:42and the millions watching around the world this is it the battle for pound for pound
00:08:50the best fighter in the world from the site where legends are made caesar's palace ladies and gentlemen
00:09:13introducing first fighting out of the red corner wearing red and weighing 146 and one half pounds
00:09:20in 1992 he won olympic gold in barcelona and since becoming a professional he has a perfect record of 23
00:09:30consecutive victories without a loss 20 by knockout and he has won three world titles tonight he is the
00:09:40challenger ladies and gentlemen come see caballeros from east la here is the golden boy
00:09:47the three-time world champion and reigning wbc super lightweight champion of the world
00:09:57the undefeated oscar de la hoya
00:10:12and across the ring his opponent fighting out of the blue corner wearing a lavender trim with black
00:10:18and weighing also 146 and one half pounds in 1984 he captured olympic gold in los angeles and as a
00:10:29professional his record stands at 40 victories with one defeat and one draw and 17 of his victories are by
00:10:37knockout since 1989 he has won six world title belts without a loss from norfolk virginia presenting
00:10:47the four-time world champion and reigning pound for pound king the defending welterweight champion of the world
00:10:58olympic golf blirin
00:11:00that's you baby
00:11:07that's you
00:11:09okay
00:11:20all right
00:11:21we could
00:11:22all right gentlemen we've gone through all the instructions in the dressing room
00:11:29this is for the championship of the world i expect a tough clean fight protect yourself
00:11:35at all times an equation from the challenger the champion let's get it on
00:11:43whitaker thinks he can frustrate and then do things to delahoya never done to him before
00:11:49delahoya believes that basically he can walk through the smaller whitaker one of them is right
00:11:55and we're about to find out which one it is if he walks through whitaker he will surprise war
00:12:05one final fascinating piece of body language delahoya refusing even to glance at whitaker
00:12:11even during the referee's instructions when they stood two feet away from each other more or less
00:12:16face to face delahoya looking upward in what i take to be a tribute to his deceased mother
00:12:32when i see whitaker's gonna work the jab and try to work off his body early
00:12:37there have been three clinches in the first 30 seconds indication indicating again that whitaker
00:12:44is going to try to frustrate the younger fighter whitaker showing the jab early and lateral movement
00:12:50he jabs twice moves to his right jabs three times moves to his right delahoya not yet finding a chance
00:12:57to throw a combination tentative right hand by delahoya there he sticks the jab without a lot of
00:13:02conviction why it's the hands in there come on hey hey remember in the early rounds against miguel
00:13:08angel gonzalez delahoya looked as though he wanted to take gonzalez's head off with the jab he hasn't
00:13:13thrown one of those laser shots yet there's the first left hook and whitaker partially blocked it with his shoulder
00:13:28going to be awfully hard as roy joins jones pointed out earlier for delahoya to land the left hook
00:13:35the right hook is doing a small thing by using his jab and attacking oscar first
00:13:54hey
00:14:14right hand punches in close by delahoya he's gonna have to use the right hand to win the fight and
00:14:20you saw him doubling up with it there now a right hand lead by delahoya
00:14:26good body shot by pernell whitaker
00:14:34southpaw against conventional fighter it's always fascinating to see which man will appear to be
00:14:39comfortable with the style confrontation first and so far in this round if anybody appears comfortable
00:14:45it's whitaker because he's done so many times over and over again
00:14:55the first surprise here is that whitaker has been probably a little bit more the aggressor than
00:15:01delahoya
00:15:28here is
00:15:35Don't be standing up too high, take a step backwards, you're standing too tall, you've
00:15:45got to move your waist.
00:15:56There you see the father of Oscar De La Hoya yelling instructions to his son, his son often
00:16:05looks back to see what his father thinks of what's happening.
00:16:10Joel De La Hoya, the man who first got Oscar into boxing when he was five and a half years
00:16:14old.
00:16:14In round one, by CompuBox numbers, Hernell Whitaker's southpaw stance nullified De La Hoya's jab.
00:16:22De La Hoya landing only one of 14 jabs in the round and that speaks to the Whitaker camp strategy,
00:16:28Larry, of taking away Oscar De La Hoya's dominant left side.
00:16:35If a team can beat you with the passing game, you try to take it away and make them throw
00:16:40you with the running game.
00:16:41He's trying to take away the strength of De La Hoya, which up until this point in his
00:16:45career has been that rapier left hand.
00:16:51Whitaker getting low and peeking up at De La Hoya, trying to keep his head and body moving
00:16:56side to side to stay away from De La Hoya while he tries to bob up toward punching opportunities.
00:17:03Hard right hand to the body by De La Hoya.
00:17:06Whitaker comes back to the straight left.
00:17:14You can see that De La Hoya is much more robotic than Whitaker, who improvises.
00:17:26Good counter by De La Hoya.
00:17:27Good counter right hand by De La Hoya.
00:17:29Misses with the left hook, follows, lands a couple straight right hands, smiles as Whitaker
00:17:35clowns a little bit for the crowd.
00:17:37De La Hoya almost landed a left hook over Whitaker's right shoulder there.
00:17:42Oscar getting more aggressive.
00:17:44He was tentative in round number one as he tried to figure out Whitaker's southpaw style.
00:17:49Now there might be a little mouse already above the right eye of Pernell Whitaker.
00:17:53Looks as though something is there.
00:17:58Crowd chanting Oscar, Oscar, Oscar.
00:18:09Roy, how big an edge do you give to Whitaker in comfort level so far?
00:18:13Well now, in the first round he had a big comfort advantage.
00:18:16This round is not happening the same.
00:18:18Oscar's making a few adjustments here with his feet to allow himself to be more comfortable in round number one.
00:18:23And he's throwing the right hand more, which is what he's going to have to do to legitimately attack Pernell
00:18:28Whitaker.
00:18:29Right hand of the body by De La Hoya.
00:18:30Whitaker with the counter left.
00:18:37Oscar keeps trying to land his left hook, which is a hard proposition against Whitaker.
00:18:45Oscar's getting a little bit impatient here.
00:18:47He wants to hit Whitaker with a good punch, but he can't seem to find a way to hit Whitaker.
00:18:51Work out, work out, work out!
00:18:54Here's a way to hit him.
00:18:56Two right hands inside by De La Hoya.
00:18:59Back Whitaker up.
00:19:00Much better round for Oscar in round number two.
00:19:08And Whitaker not happy with himself as the round comes to a close, De La Hoya throws his gloves in
00:19:15the air.
00:19:15The crowd rises to applaud.
00:19:18Don't let this kid take a play from him.
00:19:20Oh, no, no.
00:19:21Oh, no.
00:19:21Just relax.
00:19:22Look, that was a beautiful round, okay?
00:19:24Don't let this kid take the play away from him.
00:19:27Two up, Ron.
00:19:28Huh?
00:19:28Yeah, baby, we all right.
00:19:29We all right.
00:19:30We all right.
00:19:30Double up that jab.
00:19:32You're not the first four.
00:19:33The first four is your good fight.
00:19:35You got to double up that jab and go to the body.
00:19:37Don't be afraid to hurt this guy.
00:19:38Hurt this guy on the outside.
00:19:39Every now and then, when he gets close, steal it with that left hand.
00:19:42I will.
00:19:42All right, the left hand is right there.
00:19:43All right.
00:19:43Okay?
00:19:44But the jab, just remember this felt the jab and step around.
00:19:47Keep stepping around.
00:19:48All this kid is trying to hit you with the right hand.
00:19:50Now, as soon as you get in the inside, now, he's probably throwing up the uppercut.
00:19:53Yeah.
00:19:53As soon as you get there first, you do first with the uppercut.
00:19:56Then go to the body second.
00:19:58All right.
00:19:58Okay?
00:19:59It's starting to hurt this guy, baby.
00:20:00I need a second.
00:20:01So far, it's been mostly a tactical fight.
00:20:04Perhaps it will heat up and we'll get some real spontaneous combustion.
00:20:09Both fighters, I think, feel as though they want to land some big shots now.
00:20:12So we should start seeing some things happen.
00:20:17De La Hoya told us yesterday that he wanted to pressure Whitaker in the first three rounds
00:20:21because he thought the older man would try to conserve his energy.
00:20:25But he has not been able to penetrate Whitaker's defense enough to put real pressure on him for long periods
00:20:30of time.
00:20:30No, but he did pressure him good at the end of that last round.
00:20:33No, the last minute of the second round was definitely De La Hoya's best minute of the first six.
00:20:38Now, Whitaker working the jab again.
00:20:40Two very good jabs by Whitaker.
00:20:44Because as you can see from time to time, De La Hoya lowers that left hand.
00:20:51He does that because he likes to throw the left hook from a low angle.
00:20:54Kind of a half hook, half uppercut.
00:20:56That punch may not work against Whitaker's stance.
00:21:03Hard left hand over the top by Whitaker.
00:21:06De La Hoya's still pushing forward.
00:21:09Not throwing as many right hand leads as perhaps he ought to to open Whitaker up.
00:21:14Because Whitaker's going to Oscar's left, which doesn't allow Oscar to see the right hand as much.
00:21:18Ho, ho, ho. He's set back both of them.
00:21:20I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
00:21:22I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
00:21:26Oscar pounding to the body with the left hand.
00:21:28Come on. Work out.
00:21:30And coming up with an uppercut.
00:21:32You heard both corners asking for uppercuts.
00:21:35De La Hoya landed the first big one.
00:21:38Whitaker goes back to the jab to back him off.
00:21:58Right hand inside landed for De La Hoya.
00:22:00Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,
00:22:04hey, hey, hey.
00:22:05No, wait, but don't do that. Come on, come on, come on.
00:22:09mills lane anxious that we don't see a headbutt there was a butt right there i don't know if any
00:22:15blood will come out but there was definitely a butt and whittaker throws delahoya down that'll
00:22:22be a slip not a knockdown an obvious effort to frustrate delahoya and the headbutt has
00:22:29cut delahoya under the eye it's a butt mills lane making clear to all the judges it was a butt
00:22:35delahoya shaking his head in disappointment he's got a cut under the right eye as the result of a
00:22:40whittaker headbutt but it seemed inadvertent and it doesn't seem that it will bother delahoya very
00:22:46much if he doesn't let it bother him
00:23:01another hard left hand uppercut by delahoya and a hard left hook delahoya landing some solid blows
00:23:10whitaker sticks the jab straight into his face but oscar brought out the artillery in round number
00:23:16three and he stayed very calm with that cut jim
00:23:29don't get in a rough house with him don't be fighting his fight
00:23:32it doesn't count it out he doesn't count it but it's a little bit more
00:23:34let's get more distance let's get a lot of distance let's get a lot of distance mark
00:23:46there's a second look at the butt as you see whitaker coming from down trying to get in close
00:23:51with a good body punch his head and his left hand landed simultaneously
00:24:01At the end of the round,
00:24:04Delahoy has turned the tide
00:24:05with that left hook inside,
00:24:09left uppercut, sorry.
00:24:15This is an excellent fight.
00:24:19It's a very even fight so far,
00:24:21and it's beginning to boil down
00:24:24to just what we thought it might be,
00:24:26a battle of Delahoya's heavy artillery
00:24:28against Burnell Whitaker's
00:24:29sophistication and skill.
00:24:31Harold Letterman, how do you have it through three?
00:24:33Jim, 29, 28, two rounds to one.
00:24:36Oscar Delahoya, I gave him rounds two and three
00:24:39based on his better punching.
00:24:41Jim, just in case anybody's interested,
00:24:42the rules of the WBC are you lose a point.
00:24:46The uncut fighter loses a point
00:24:47on an accidental headbutt.
00:24:49I asked Mills Lane, he didn't take the point.
00:24:51So it's two to one, Delahoya.
00:24:53I have the same score.
00:24:57Still appears there's a slight swelling
00:25:00under the right eye of Purnell Whitaker.
00:25:02Delahoya, as you can see, has the mouse under the right eye.
00:25:05The blood has been stopped for the moment.
00:25:12Hard right hand by Delahoya.
00:25:14Good right hand by Oscar Delahoya.
00:25:16And again, Whitaker comes in with the head.
00:25:19And Delahoya is obviously wary of butts.
00:25:22And he stops punching as Whitaker came in.
00:25:24That's gonna happen a lot because these guys have,
00:25:26their power hand is on the same side,
00:25:28therefore their heads will be lined up perfectly
00:25:30when they come in to one another.
00:25:32So there are gonna be a few butts in this fight.
00:25:34It would be horrible to see such a hotly anticipated bout
00:25:38end as the result of a headbutt.
00:25:39And Whitaker does have a mouse over his right eye.
00:25:43Now that's his lead eye.
00:25:45So if in fact his vision is affected in the later rounds,
00:25:48that could be an element of the fight.
00:26:03So far in the tactical battle,
00:26:05Delahoya, at least in the last minute of the rounds,
00:26:09giving as good as he's getting.
00:26:11But it's a little disappointing to see that Delahoya,
00:26:15who is stronger, is really not trying
00:26:18to impose his strength on Whitaker.
00:26:21Perhaps he's saving it for later.
00:26:24Well, you heard his trainer, Jesus Rivero,
00:26:26asking him between rounds to create more distance
00:26:29between himself and Whitaker.
00:26:30Yet a lot of distance, he said.
00:26:32Didn't want him to get into a brawl.
00:26:33Yeah, because it makes it more difficult for Whitaker
00:26:35to hit him being the shot of the two fighters.
00:26:40Whitaker misses over the top with the left hand.
00:26:43De La Hoya showing his always improving flexibility
00:26:47in the upper body as he ducks and slips.
00:26:50Another right-hand lead by Delahoya
00:26:52as he tries to pick Whitaker apart tactically.
00:26:57Good right hand by Delahoya.
00:26:59Bobbing left to right and then throwing the right-hand lead.
00:27:02Obviously something he's worked on specifically for this fight.
00:27:11And Delahoya flurries at the end of the round.
00:27:16That catches the eye of the judges.
00:27:20I wonder if they're going to let him steal the round
00:27:23with that last ten-second flurry.
00:27:26Because I thought Whitaker had it until then.
00:27:29Trying to do him close now, right?
00:27:31Okay, now.
00:27:32It's not part of the fight then.
00:27:34Let's put enough pressure on this guy.
00:27:35All right, I know.
00:27:36All right.
00:27:36As soon as you get close this guy,
00:27:37she's got enough uppercut,
00:27:39but she's got to come back with him.
00:27:40Hey, baby.
00:27:41Go home with that.
00:27:42I'll talk to him.
00:27:43I'll talk to him.
00:27:43Look, look.
00:27:44Look, look, look.
00:27:46Throw that uppercut
00:27:56There you see Oscar Delahoya switching southpaw.
00:27:59It had been anticipated that sometime during the fight he would try it.
00:28:04None of that landed.
00:28:06He threw about eight blows.
00:28:08It looked better than it was.
00:28:09But we have now learned that Mills Lane has taken away a point
00:28:14for that accidental butt because the WBC rules dictate that he does.
00:28:19So that's an additional point for Delahoya
00:28:23or a point taken away from Whitaker.
00:28:26Meaning that on the scorecards where Delahoya was given the fourth round,
00:28:29if in fact he was, he may be four points ahead.
00:28:36Hard punches from Whitaker.
00:28:38A right and a left.
00:28:40Whitaker going back to the jab,
00:28:42which served him so well in round number one
00:28:44where he threw 41 of them and landed 14.
00:28:49Delahoya going back to the right-hand lead,
00:28:51which has been his weapon so far,
00:28:53along with the uppercut.
00:28:54Slippage here.
00:28:55Right on that spot that Larry talked about.
00:28:59They meet in the center of the ring and go to the body.
00:29:01Yeah.
00:29:09Harold, how do you have it through four?
00:29:10Okay, 39-36, three rounds to one.
00:29:13Oscar Delahoya.
00:29:15What happens is, is on an accidental headbutt,
00:29:18the uncut fighter loses one point to the WBC.
00:29:21If Mills Lane took that point in the third round,
00:29:24it becomes a 10-8 round for Delahoya.
00:29:26So Oscar by three points.
00:29:31Whitaker's eye continues gradually to swell.
00:29:33That's the right eye.
00:29:36Delahoya not having switched to the southpaw stance
00:29:38at any time in this round.
00:29:40He swore to us yesterday that he hadn't worked on it in training
00:29:43and wouldn't do it, but you saw him do it
00:29:45at the end of the preceding round.
00:29:55Whitaker always so good at choosing his opportunities
00:29:58while backing up and drawing you in.
00:30:06Crowd reacting wildly to everything Delahoya attempts.
00:30:11Missed punches, drawing almost as much approval
00:30:14as those which land.
00:30:15Whitaker trying to box Delahoya a little more now,
00:30:18trying to land a few more punches on him to get to him.
00:30:21He's jabbing more. He's flipping more.
00:30:29This has been Whitaker's best round to this point.
00:30:34But still, he isn't landing a whole lot, Larry.
00:30:37Not a whole lot, but he's landing more than Delahoya right now.
00:30:40If he's winning the round, he's running it more
00:30:43with ring generalship than he is with clean punches.
00:30:45And that jab right there.
00:30:46But he's landed more punches than Delahoya from my viewpoint.
00:30:52He's basically winning this round with the jail.
00:30:54Here's the switch to southpaw again.
00:30:57He used it to flurry at the end of the last round.
00:31:00Stays in the southpaw stance.
00:31:02Jabs with the right hand.
00:31:04And remember, Delahoya is a natural southpaw
00:31:07who fights in a right-hand position.
00:31:10His left hand is his strongest hand.
00:31:12When he goes southpaw that way,
00:31:14he gets to throw the left as a cross, as a power punch.
00:31:19He's used to...
00:31:20Southpaws are not used to left hand coming at him.
00:31:28How are you feeling?
00:31:30Are you okay?
00:31:31Listen up.
00:31:34If you change to the southpaw, you've got to face him.
00:31:37If you turn southpaw, then you've got to do that bending
00:31:40and hit him with the right and then come back with the left rope.
00:31:44You've got to have the bending and then the combination.
00:31:50Hey, relax.
00:31:51Relax.
00:31:52Relax in the corner.
00:31:53Listen to me.
00:31:54Now listen to me.
00:31:55Okay?
00:31:55Just listen to me.
00:31:57Keep snapping the jab.
00:31:58Keep snapping the jab like you're doing.
00:32:00The jab is beautiful.
00:32:01As soon as you get closer,
00:32:02all you might need to do is let both hands go with the guy
00:32:04and get a case in the body side.
00:32:13If Whittaker...
00:32:14I'm sorry.
00:32:14If Delahoya really thought he was going to walk through Whittaker...
00:32:17Now he starts a round in the southpaw stance.
00:32:21I wonder what he thinks now.
00:32:23Left hand to the body by Delahoya.
00:32:26Is he going to fight the full round in the southpaw stance?
00:32:28He is.
00:32:29And he lands a straight left to Whittaker that backs him up.
00:32:32Now why would a fighter who has been a great young fighter
00:32:36like Delahoya feel he's got to change his natural best style
00:32:41against Cornell Whittaker, Roy?
00:32:43A confidence booster.
00:32:44He's trying to show Whittaker that he can do anything
00:32:45that he wants to do in here.
00:32:47This is the way...
00:32:48This is part of the head game schemes that go on.
00:32:50But I haven't seen any positive results from this switch.
00:32:53It looks good.
00:32:54It's flashy.
00:32:55But I don't see him landing any real punches.
00:32:57I see a positive result.
00:32:58He gets to throw his best punch, the left hand,
00:33:01from a power position.
00:33:02Now he goes back to the conventional stance.
00:33:11And, of course, as Roy pointed out,
00:33:13southpaws aren't used to facing other southpaws
00:33:16and seeing the left hand come at them.
00:33:17No, they're not.
00:33:17They're used to seeing right-handers most of the time
00:33:19because 90% of the time that's what they'll be in with,
00:33:22training and fighting.
00:33:23There he goes back to the southpaw stance.
00:33:25Whittaker misses over the top.
00:33:30You would think that Pernell Whittaker
00:33:32would want to attack him constantly
00:33:33when he's in the southpaw stance
00:33:35to test what would be an inexperienced defense.
00:33:38Yep, he doesn't want to run it to Oscar's left hand.
00:33:40He'd know that's Oscar's best punch.
00:33:41And there you go.
00:33:42That's the reason for the southpaw stance.
00:33:45Well, that was the first real punch he landed.
00:33:47I don't agree.
00:33:48I think he's landed two or three other good ones.
00:33:50And you saw that Whittaker tried to hit him
00:33:51with a big left hand, missed it,
00:33:54and De La Hoya brightly came back with his own right.
00:34:04De La Hoya switching back and forth throughout this sixth round.
00:34:08Southpaw conventional, back to Southpaw.
00:34:13Whittaker not punching as often in this round,
00:34:15now goes back to working the jab.
00:34:27He goes to the conventional stance.
00:34:29De La Hoya throws the straight right hand.
00:34:32Whittaker short with most of these jabs.
00:34:36There's one that landed.
00:34:38And a couple of left hands,
00:34:39and he held on to De La Hoya's left arm.
00:34:47Mills Lane trying to gain command of the fight.
00:34:51I don't think there's nothing wrong with that.
00:34:53He's making a move on him,
00:34:54and he's catching him when he's got him off balance.
00:34:56Just like when he relaxes inside,
00:34:58Offa De La Hoya's hitting him
00:34:59with a right or a left uppercut.
00:35:00Hard left hand by Whittaker there.
00:35:06Closing seconds of round six.
00:35:08Halfway through.
00:35:09A tactical battle
00:35:11between the two great welterwicks.
00:35:25Very close fight. Very close fight.
00:35:27We're in the fight, baby.
00:35:27You understand?
00:35:28We are in the fight, okay?
00:35:30I'm gonna win it.
00:35:30I know we're gonna win it.
00:35:31I know damn well we're gonna win it.
00:35:33I know you guys.
00:35:34I know exactly what you're doing, alright?
00:35:36And just keep scoring points with the jab.
00:35:39That left hand.
00:35:49I know you guys.
00:35:51I see it.
00:35:52I see it.
00:35:52I feel you, man.
00:35:53I know you feel me.
00:35:53I feel you, too.
00:35:55We're together.
00:35:56We're together.
00:35:56We're together.
00:35:56We're together.
00:35:57We're together.
00:35:58That's Ronnie Shields,
00:35:59who's doing all the talking in Whittaker's Corner.
00:36:02Co-Trainer along with Lou Duba.
00:36:05You need to stay on...
00:36:07Get on your left side,
00:36:08but be careful.
00:36:09Don't crouch somewhere.
00:36:10Don't crouch so much.
00:36:13Good look at the slightly swelling right eye
00:36:15of Pernell Whittaker.
00:36:17The mouse under De La Hoya's right eye
00:36:19has not yet been a problem for him
00:36:21since he incurred that as the result of the headbutt
00:36:23earlier in the fight.
00:36:28In round six,
00:36:3012 of Whittaker's 19 connected punches were jabs.
00:36:34De La Hoya landing many more power shots.
00:36:37Let's check in one more time with Harold Letterman.
00:36:39How do you have it?
00:36:39Halfway through.
00:36:40Jim, I got it very close.
00:36:42Three rounds apiece.
00:36:43Fifty-seven, fifty-six.
00:36:45Oscar De La Hoya.
00:36:46Based on the one point
00:36:47that referee Mills Lane took away on that...
00:36:50Really, I don't...
00:36:51It's a bad rule,
00:36:52but it was the accidental headbutt.
00:36:53I agree with you, Harold.
00:36:55It was an accidental headbutt,
00:36:57but it's below the eye.
00:36:58It did no serious damage
00:36:59and has not affected the fight.
00:37:00Larry, let me explain it.
00:37:02The president of the WBC,
00:37:03Jose Suleman,
00:37:04insists that if a guy gets an accidental headbutt,
00:37:07he has to even it out somehow or another.
00:37:09So he takes a point from the uncut fighter.
00:37:11That's his justification for it.
00:37:13I don't believe it's the fair thing to do.
00:37:15An accident is an accident.
00:37:20I think if the cut is in a place
00:37:22where it may show up to be something in the future,
00:37:25a point should be taken,
00:37:25but if it's not,
00:37:26then I think the fight should be left alone.
00:37:28Hey!
00:37:33Hey!
00:37:39Hey!
00:37:41Hey!
00:37:42Hey!
00:37:42Hey!
00:37:43Hey!
00:37:48Hey!
00:37:49Hey!
00:37:55Hey!
00:37:56chases him with right-hand power shots.
00:37:58Burnell goes back to the jab.
00:37:59De La Hoya has to make sure that he doesn't get frustrated
00:38:01or over-anxious right here at this point.
00:38:03This is the type of tactics that can make him get frustrated
00:38:06and get him out of his head.
00:38:08Whitaker is used to this type of stuff.
00:38:10More and more, Whitaker seems to be loading up
00:38:12and trying to land one big left-hand shot,
00:38:15which could change things in the bout.
00:38:17A good body shot by Whitaker.
00:38:19Excellent body punch, one of his best in several rounds.
00:38:22Yo.
00:38:23The fight would look better for Whitaker in the later round.
00:38:26Straight right hand by De La Hoya stops Whitaker's progress there.
00:38:31Roy, do you see any age showing on Whitaker?
00:38:35Just in some of his punches sometimes.
00:38:37He's just a little bit wider than he was in his younger days,
00:38:39but not much.
00:38:41But everybody's going to show a little bit of age.
00:38:46By keeping his distance, as De La Hoya does...
00:38:49De La Hoya has a nosebleed right now.
00:38:51He misses the chance to try to use his greater size
00:38:55to push Whitaker around, knock him off balance,
00:38:58try to get into his head with a little manhandling.
00:39:00Lands a long right hand there.
00:39:02Remember tonight, though,
00:39:03Whitaker is the heavier of the two fighters right now.
00:39:07De La Hoya with a trickle of blood out of the right nostril.
00:39:11Product of Purnell Whitaker's jab.
00:39:14And De La Hoya smiling at Whitaker and offering a physical barb
00:39:20as he goes back to his corner.
00:39:22I think Whitaker's getting into his head.
00:39:23You're standing too still.
00:39:24I know he's getting into his head a little bit.
00:39:28Tell me the truth. Are you tired?
00:39:33Let's see if we can dominate him now.
00:39:35Okay, you got to move around.
00:39:37Be aware when he's throwing the punches.
00:39:40When he throws those shots, move back and connect.
00:39:45Let's see if we can dominate him now.
00:39:48All right, here is the tackle in the middle of this
00:39:51rather gentle tactical fight.
00:39:58I'm not sure what Delahoy is celebrating.
00:40:02This has hardly been his finest hour, but it isn't over.
00:40:06Come on, Nick.
00:40:17The fighters are getting a little closer to one another now,
00:40:19and we should start looking for some bigger shots to be landed.
00:40:23Another thing I noticed, Whittaker's not picking that right foot up
00:40:26nearly as much as he used to do tonight.
00:40:30Punch that numbers through round seven.
00:40:33Scorer's nightmare.
00:40:34Whittaker landing more punches and landing at a higher percentage rate.
00:40:39De La Hoya with a huge edge in power shots,
00:40:42landing 85 hooks and crosses and uppercuts to only 36 for Whittaker.
00:40:47What do you like?
00:40:48More punches or harder punches?
00:40:51I can't say that I've seen that many hard punches.
00:40:54I've got to disagree with the numbers there.
00:40:57There you saw a De La Hoya slip on that canvas,
00:41:00which we pointed out earlier.
00:41:03It was a little slippery.
00:41:05I haven't seen him land 85 hard punches, certainly not cleanly.
00:41:10You don't land that kind of punches on Pernell Whitaker.
00:41:18De La Hoya hasn't used the left jab all that much
00:41:20since the second or third round.
00:41:22Goes back to it momentarily there.
00:41:23Big right hand counter by De La Hoya.
00:41:25Excellent.
00:41:45All right, ho, ho, ho.
00:41:48One thing that strikes me,
00:41:50if Whittaker is going to win a decision against De La Hoya
00:41:54and outbox him,
00:41:55he's got to be busier.
00:41:56And to me,
00:41:57he does not look markedly busier
00:41:59than the younger fighter at this point.
00:42:05Well, he can't just go in there and be busy against De La Hoya.
00:42:08De La Hoya is too big of a puncher for that.
00:42:09He has to be very economical with what he does.
00:42:12He knows that.
00:42:16Whittaker lamenting the missed left
00:42:18and De La Hoya coming forward to say,
00:42:20take a couple of right hands to go with that.
00:42:23De La Hoya was caught with a right hook
00:42:24coming in just in himself.
00:42:33Both fighters, I think,
00:42:34are fighting a very small fight.
00:42:35Got a left hook in.
00:42:37Not easy to do.
00:42:38Whittaker smiles.
00:42:40And almost guarantee you
00:42:41that means that thudding left hook
00:42:43did some business.
00:42:52You know it's not a great fight
00:42:54when the fighters have time to smile
00:42:56after they land their punches.
00:42:58It's still a tactical battle.
00:43:03That punch blocked by De La Hoya.
00:43:05Whittaker pawing with the jab.
00:43:08Straight right hands
00:43:09as Oskar tries to flurry again
00:43:11in the closing seconds of the round.
00:43:13Whittaker lands the last punch.
00:43:23Come on.
00:43:23All right, okay.
00:43:25We're telling you.
00:43:26I'm telling you right now.
00:43:27That's okay.
00:43:27I'm telling you right now.
00:43:28We're behind in the fight.
00:43:29All right.
00:43:30I'm telling you right now.
00:43:31Okay.
00:43:31You want to take it to, don't you?
00:43:33I'll lose you, Dan.
00:43:34No, no, no, no.
00:43:35You're going to win.
00:43:35You're going to knock this guy out.
00:43:36I'm going to fucking punch.
00:43:37You're going to punch.
00:43:38That's all punch.
00:43:38No.
00:43:39No, no, no, no.
00:43:40Jab.
00:43:43You got to faint him.
00:43:44When you faint him.
00:43:45And throw that uppercut.
00:43:46Oh, Apollo.
00:43:48If you turn left,
00:43:50make sure you get that uppercut.
00:43:57Here you see
00:43:59that these fighters are so happy sometimes
00:44:01when they either land or miss a punch
00:44:04that they are gesturing.
00:44:07That means there's just not enough punches landing.
00:44:09There's a good left hook by Delahoya.
00:44:11There was an odd exchange
00:44:12which we didn't get altogether
00:44:14in Whitaker's corner
00:44:16in which one of his handlers said,
00:44:19you're behind in this fight.
00:44:21And Whitaker, who I believe thinks he was ahead,
00:44:24is saying, well, then I'm going to lose.
00:44:27Meaning that if he's got to do something else
00:44:29except what he's doing,
00:44:30he doesn't know if he can do it.
00:44:32Right.
00:44:34You can't get into a verbal battle in the corner.
00:44:36You have to stay out of that.
00:44:37You just have to tell him what he's doing wrong
00:44:39and try to tell him, okay, you might be behind.
00:44:41You can't just say you're losing.
00:44:43The guy doesn't want to hear that
00:44:44and he's out there fighting his heart out.
00:44:45You're right, Roy.
00:44:46Well, it's a very talkative corner.
00:44:48They've been together a long time
00:44:49and Brunel has very special relationships
00:44:52with both Ronnie Shields and Lou Duba.
00:44:54So I'm sure they would say to you,
00:44:56we can do our business our way.
00:45:04The one criticism I would have,
00:45:06you saw the punch stat numbers that show
00:45:08that only in one round in the fight
00:45:10has Whitaker thrown as many as 60 punches.
00:45:12I don't think he can beat De La Hoya
00:45:14throwing 44 punches a round.
00:45:17Yeah, but how many is De La Hoya throwing?
00:45:19About 40 or 44.
00:45:21Yeah, but how many more now?
00:45:24Come on, get that spit.
00:45:25Come on, he's done.
00:45:26How many is he landing, though, Jeff?
00:45:28He's landing fewer than Brunel.
00:45:29There you go.
00:45:30So he can never put you have a good fight.
00:45:31But his landed punches have more effect.
00:45:33Well, you think.
00:45:35We shall see.
00:45:37Like I said, scorer's nightmare.
00:45:39You're right, because you can't really tell
00:45:40what you like.
00:45:40We can see three wildly different scorecards
00:45:42at the end of this fight.
00:45:43Because it's according to what you like.
00:45:44You're right there.
00:45:45That's what makes boxing so different.
00:45:55Like Oscar De La Hoya may win this fight,
00:45:58but you can't say that his introduction
00:46:00into the welterweight division
00:46:03has been a huge success so far.
00:46:06Well, he picked the toughest fight
00:46:07he could possibly pick to enter the division.
00:46:12You're right there.
00:46:15Goes back to the southpaw stance, does De La Hoya.
00:46:19I have to even order that.
00:46:22That could have been scored a knockdown.
00:46:25It is a knockdown.
00:46:25It is a knockdown.
00:46:26It is a knockdown.
00:46:27It is a knockdown.
00:46:27Knockdown.
00:46:27De La Hoya's knee touching the canvas.
00:46:30And that will affect the scorecards, too.
00:46:35So that gets back that point taken away
00:46:39from Whitaker if we have a two-point round.
00:46:48And De La Hoya, at this moment,
00:46:49may be regretting having gone to the southpaw stance
00:46:52as he wound up losing his balance
00:46:54and went down from a very light blow.
00:46:56It's like a trick play in football.
00:46:58What's the point?
00:46:59You do what you do best,
00:47:00especially if you think you're younger
00:47:02and you're stronger.
00:47:03Whitaker left to the body.
00:47:04De La Hoya rights upstairs.
00:47:06De La Hoya lands a left.
00:47:09Goes in and attacks Whitaker's body.
00:47:12And Primmel comes back with counter-shots.
00:47:18Turn him into a good fight.
00:47:22Turning into a fight, that's for sure.
00:47:28Oscar, how come you're not dominating at the distance?
00:47:32Are you tired?
00:47:33Then what?
00:47:35You need to dominate at the distance.
00:47:37Let's not get in a dogfight here.
00:47:41You're not fainting him at all.
00:47:47You'll see it was a short left inside
00:47:49with De La Hoya,
00:47:51I believe, a little bit off balance.
00:47:54Right there.
00:47:58A punch put him on the floor.
00:48:01Not a great punch, but a punch.
00:48:05That's what a knockdown is.
00:48:09Definitely.
00:48:11Very good round for Whitaker.
00:48:12He threw 59 punches.
00:48:14That's the kind of punch-out foot he needs
00:48:16to keep De La Hoya back on his heels.
00:48:26Three rounds to go in what you would suspect
00:48:30is a close fight.
00:48:35Harold, how do you have it for a knock?
00:48:37Jim, very, very close.
00:48:39Five rounds to four.
00:48:41Oscar De La Hoya, 85-84 in points.
00:48:44A one-point lead for De La Hoya.
00:48:45I like his power shots,
00:48:47but I want to tell you something, Jim.
00:48:48He's got very poor traction.
00:48:49He's wearing an unconventional boxing shoe,
00:48:51mean De La Hoya,
00:48:52and I think that he slipped when he got hit.
00:48:54If you go down on the end of the punch,
00:48:55it's a knockdown.
00:48:56Luzling pulled it correctly,
00:48:57but I'm telling you,
00:48:58he's been slipping the whole fight
00:48:59with those shoes.
00:49:00Do you suspect, Harold,
00:49:02that all three judges would have given Whitaker
00:49:03a 10-8 round there?
00:49:04I really think they should.
00:49:05The referee did call it a knockdown.
00:49:07It was a clean knockdown.
00:49:08He went down on the end of the punch.
00:49:09There's no reason not to give Whitaker
00:49:11a 10-8 round.
00:49:11I didn't ask if they should.
00:49:13Do you think they would?
00:49:13Yes, good right hand by De La Hoya.
00:49:21Neither fight is too busy now, Jim.
00:49:26I think they're looking to lay
00:49:28at big punches right now.
00:49:31Whitaker's trying to land a straight left.
00:49:33De La Hoya's trying to land
00:49:34a right-hand lead.
00:49:51Whitaker popping De La Hoya with the jab
00:49:53as Oscar tries to come in.
00:49:57Whatever the outcome of this fight
00:49:59against one of the best young fighters
00:50:01in the world,
00:50:02the 33-year-old Pernell Whitaker,
00:50:04is holding his own,
00:50:06which gives you an idea
00:50:07of just how great he was
00:50:09in his prime.
00:50:17Good shot by De La Hoya.
00:50:23And as Whitaker keeps going forward here,
00:50:26De La Hoya gets a chance
00:50:28to counter effectively.
00:50:29But again,
00:50:29Whitaker lands the jab.
00:50:31De La Hoya lands a power shot
00:50:32in return.
00:50:35Now Whitaker,
00:50:36De La Hoya's boxing
00:50:37like Hurtado fought Whitaker.
00:50:40And Whitaker had nothing
00:50:42but trouble with Hurtado
00:50:43before he knocked him out
00:50:43in the 11th.
00:50:45Now he's doing something
00:50:46that he should have considered
00:50:47doing all night long.
00:50:49Which is?
00:50:50Moving and boxing.
00:50:50Don't try to trade Whitaker.
00:50:52Make Whitaker come at him
00:50:52and do like Hurtado did.
00:50:54Why shouldn't you trade with him?
00:50:55You're stronger than he is.
00:50:57You're younger than he is.
00:50:57You're supposed to be quicker
00:50:59than he is.
00:50:59Supposed to.
00:51:00He doesn't have the experience
00:51:00to trade Whitaker like that.
00:51:03He's a superb fighter,
00:51:04but he doesn't have that kind of experience
00:51:06where he's just trading
00:51:06with Whitaker.
00:51:09Great flurry by De La Hoya
00:51:11to end the 10th.
00:51:12Whitaker gets a couple body shots
00:51:14back in return.
00:51:22They got two rounds to go.
00:51:25How are we feeling now?
00:51:26You feel like the champ or what?
00:51:28All right, baby.
00:51:29All right.
00:51:30Two rounds up.
00:51:31Two rounds up is all we got.
00:51:36Two rounds, baby.
00:51:39He's got to be more tired than you.
00:51:43We only got two rounds to go.
00:51:45All you got to do is lateral movement.
00:51:48If you turn southpaw,
00:51:50make sure you bend
00:51:52and then hit him with the right hand.
00:51:54Come on.
00:51:55You know you got to do that.
00:51:57You know that.
00:51:58Let's go with it.
00:52:02The right hand is going to do it for you,
00:52:04but you got to throw it.
00:52:10I wish they would just tell Oscar De La Hoya,
00:52:13go out and win the fight, Ted.
00:52:18Now, he's just said and done, Larry.
00:52:20When you're out there with a guy
00:52:20who knows what he's doing.
00:52:21Yeah, but I mean,
00:52:22instead of all this technical mumbo-jumbo,
00:52:25bend at the waist,
00:52:26by this time in the fight,
00:52:27he knows what he can do
00:52:28and what Whitaker could do.
00:52:30He's got to impose himself on this old guy.
00:52:34It's not that easy
00:52:35when you have an old guy
00:52:35who won't let you just impose yourself on him.
00:52:38Whitaker's not going to back down to nobody.
00:52:40If you've been in there a couple of times
00:52:41with a guy like that,
00:52:43when you see guys who have hung around
00:52:44for a long period of time,
00:52:46it's about to have strong inner self.
00:52:48He's a very strong inside person.
00:52:50He's not going to let nobody come in there
00:52:51and just walk over him.
00:52:53Now, what about De La Hoya
00:52:54bouncing here to begin the 11th
00:52:56and perhaps trying to communicate to Whitaker
00:52:58that he's still got his legs
00:53:00and he's going to be able to out-muscle him
00:53:02and out-run him in these last two rounds?
00:53:03This is what he wants to do right here.
00:53:05Out-box Whitaker to try to win the fight on point.
00:53:07He's came to the conclusion
00:53:08that he's not going to hit Whitaker
00:53:09with a big enough shot
00:53:09going at him to knock him out,
00:53:11so he wants to try to out-box Whitaker now.
00:53:13That's what he should have been thinking all night.
00:53:14No, don't knock down, don't knock down.
00:53:16Whitaker is the older fighter.
00:53:17You don't go out there and try to out-muscle him.
00:53:19You give him a chance to win the fight.
00:53:20You think the judges are going to penalize De La Hoya,
00:53:23as Larry obviously is mentally,
00:53:25for being too cautious?
00:53:26I don't know.
00:53:29I know he's going to get himself
00:53:30in a dogfight now, though.
00:53:32All right, he's going, hey, hey, hey.
00:53:34Come on, come on, come on, come on.
00:53:38Body shots from De La Hoya
00:53:40as Whitaker turned and clowned for the crowd.
00:53:43Not sure who Whitaker was looking for over there.
00:53:45Maybe his buddy Evander Holyfield
00:53:46or Mark Breeland.
00:53:47That's the player called De La Hoya
00:53:49with hitting him with a shoulder.
00:53:52Good jab by Whitaker.
00:53:54Whitaker sticking the jab.
00:53:56Whitaker off and commanding the space horizontally.
00:53:58Back and forth from side to side.
00:54:05De La Hoya with another relatively cautious round.
00:54:08Switches to the southpaw stance.
00:54:11Which I think served him well early,
00:54:13but then later might have gotten him in trouble.
00:54:21Just missed with the left hand.
00:54:23Didn't have a lot of snap behind it anyway.
00:54:26Hard left hands for Whitaker.
00:54:28Two in a row.
00:54:30And another good left hand counter inside
00:54:33for Sweet Pea.
00:54:34Very confident
00:54:35as round 11 comes down the stretch.
00:54:37One, two, three, two, three.
00:54:41Oh!
00:54:41He's getting up.
00:54:43Come on, come on, come on, come on.
00:54:52Get off that net!
00:54:56Whitaker has to make sure
00:54:57that he doesn't let Austin catch him
00:54:58when they're, like, right there tied up.
00:55:00Right when the rough people know
00:55:01they're going to say break,
00:55:02Austin's trying to hit Whitaker with a good punch.
00:55:09a fight almost breaks out
00:55:11amid this tactical boxing match
00:55:14but the bell stops it
00:55:16one round to go
00:55:22if you want it
00:55:24it's right there for you
00:55:25it's right there for you baby
00:55:29it's right there for you
00:55:30but this round can't decide
00:55:32it's right there for you
00:55:33give me a deep drop
00:55:39you've got to be in the outside
00:55:43I just want to stop the bleeding
00:55:50keep snapping the jab off
00:55:51when you get close
00:55:52the guy is just trying to out
00:55:53hustle right now
00:55:54this kid ain't got shit left
00:55:55you understand
00:55:56he's going to come out
00:55:58punch him big
00:56:00you've got to be in a good balance
00:56:03with anything you can grab this guy
00:56:05you can hit him with anything
00:56:06throw the punches
00:56:08De La Hoya has always been a very good closer
00:56:11there you see his father
00:56:15the balance could hang here
00:56:19Whitaker seems to have this fight under control right now
00:56:22but he has to make sure that he doesn't get knocked out here in his last round
00:56:25it's the third time in Oscar De La Hoya's career that he has gone the twelve round distance
00:56:30in each of the two predecessors against John John Molina and Miguel Angel Gonzalez
00:56:35as Larry told you he closed out brilliantly with dominant twelve rounds
00:56:39he starts slowly here
00:56:41Harold how do you have it going to the last round
00:56:43Harold how do you have it going to the last round
00:56:43Jim I agree with Lou Duva this is a close fight
00:56:45Jim I agree with Lou Duva this is a close fight
00:56:46six rounds to five
00:56:48104 103 Oscar De La Hoya
00:56:50I think it's about as close as he can get
00:56:52I think this twelfth is going to decide the fight
00:56:54I have Whitaker ahead by about a point myself
00:56:59I don't know if either fighter deserves to win this fight if it ends this way
00:57:07big flurry for De La Hoya a moment ago
00:57:09Whitaker looking for tactical opportunities to land that left and keep sticking the right
00:57:18De La Hoya loves to overwhelm his opponents with energy in the 12th
00:57:22hard to do that against a guy whose style is giving you fits
00:57:27as Whitaker's style is giving De La Hoya fits
00:57:31so what will it be the welterweight coronation of the rising golden boy
00:57:37or the final affirmation of the champions Hall of Fame status
00:57:41a minute and a half left for Brunel Whitaker to make one more great statement on his career
00:57:48or for Oscar De La Hoya to begin building a bridge to immortality
00:57:54I think it's going to take 12 more rounds to tell who's truly the better fighter
00:57:57in my view for now Whitaker's already made his statement
00:58:01regardless as I've said before of the outcome here
00:58:28it would be a shame if that absurd WBC rule
00:58:33it would be a shame if that absurd WBC rule
00:58:35that resulted in a point going to De La Hoya
00:58:38for an unintentional butt that did no damage
00:58:41would be the deciding factor in this fight
00:58:44De La Hoya busier with combinations
00:58:46landing more in the 12th so far
00:58:48Whitaker trying to turn the tide
00:58:51De La Hoya ties him up
00:58:5220 seconds to go
00:58:55so far a little more energy in 12 from the younger man
00:59:0210 seconds left
00:59:12and Whitaker ended the fight backing up and clowning
00:59:16which may or may not serve him well
00:59:33after one Oscar De La Hoya versus Brunel Whitaker
00:59:44and off of that in all likelihood more to come different
00:59:57as we await the decision we look back at some critical moments in the fight
01:00:01starting with round number three
01:00:03Brunel Whitaker wrestled Oscar De La Hoya into the ropes
01:00:07and head butted him under the right eye
01:00:09there's the head butt
01:00:11the left hand punch was going to the body
01:00:13but the head butt came up
01:00:14and created a mouse and some bleeding under De La Hoya's right eye
01:00:18but it never really seemed to bother Oscar that much more in the fight
01:00:21in round four he switched to a southpaw stance
01:00:23and with that southpaw stance ended the round with a flurry of punches
01:00:28just as he did several times throughout the 12 rounds
01:00:31will this catch the eye of the judges?
01:00:33it didn't impress Larry Merchant
01:00:35who thought that he didn't land anything out of that stance
01:00:38I felt differently
01:00:39then in round nine the controversial knockdown
01:00:42as De La Hoya's knee and glove went to the canvas
01:00:44while the two fighters wrestled closely together
01:00:47and Whitaker was landing a soft left hand to the chin
01:00:51one point removed from Whitaker for the head butt
01:00:54and De La Hoya probably losing a point because of the knockdown
01:00:58and let's go to Michael Buffer for the decision
01:01:01ladies and gentlemen we go to the scorecards
01:01:05by way of Caesar's Palace
01:01:07here is the Budweiser scorecards
01:01:09Chuck Jappa scores the bout 115 to 111
01:01:13Jerry Roth has it 116 to 110
01:01:16and Dolby Shirley scores it 116 to 110
01:01:20for the winner by unanimous decision
01:01:23and new
01:01:24as the weight champion of the world
01:01:27the golden boy
01:01:31Oscar De La Hoya
01:01:56De La Hoya
01:01:57so De La Hoya gets a unanimous decision by scores that might have been for many unexplained
01:02:04unexpectedly wide
01:02:05certainly unexpectedly wide for Harold Letterman
01:02:08our score how'd you have it after 12 Harold
01:02:10Jim seven rounds to five
01:02:13114
01:02:14112
01:02:14Oscar De La Hoya
01:02:15in my mind there was no question he won it
01:02:20114
01:02:21112
01:02:22Oscar De La Hoya
01:02:23in my mind there was no question he won it
01:02:25he won that 12 round pick to pull it out
01:02:27but a little bit closer than the judges had it
01:02:31that's the way we saw it one week ago in Las Vegas
01:02:34and to most ringside observers
01:02:36Harold Letterman's scorecard with a two-point final margin
01:02:39rang much truer than the cards of the three Nevada judges
01:02:43who so decisively chose De La Hoya as the winner
01:02:46let's take a look at how their scores broke down
01:02:48in the first five rounds of the fight a relatively even distribution
01:02:5115 total scoring chances
01:02:549 to De La Hoya
01:02:555 to Whitaker
01:02:57one round even on one judges scorecard
01:02:59but in the final seven rounds of the fight
01:03:01a virtual De La Hoya landslide
01:03:04except for Whitaker's
01:03:0510-8 scores on all three cards in the ninth
01:03:08when he knocked De La Hoya down
01:03:09he won only one round on one judges scorecard
01:03:13the ultimate distribution there
01:03:1521 scoring chances
01:03:1617 for De La Hoya
01:03:18only 4 for Whitaker
01:03:19noteworthily
01:03:20Whitaker bloodied De La Hoya's nose
01:03:23in the 11th round
01:03:24but yet De La Hoya was given the round
01:03:26on two of the three judges scorecards
01:03:29Larry what's your take on the scoring
01:03:31in this extremely difficult fight to judge
01:03:34extremely very
01:03:36first
01:03:37anyone who scored this fight within a couple of points on either side
01:03:40was right and was wrong
01:03:42however you happen to view the fight
01:03:45secondly those judges had they been in Augusta Georgia rather than in Las Vegas last weekend
01:03:50would have announced that Tiger Woods won that tournament not by just 12 strokes
01:03:55but by about 53 strokes
01:03:58and finally if Pernell Whitaker didn't win that first round from all of the three judges
01:04:03or later the 11th round
01:04:05then I think we know that going into the fight
01:04:08for whatever reasons reasons of style reasons of glamour
01:04:14he had to win that fight by a knockout to win
01:04:17the 12th round
01:04:18a moot point on all three officials cards
01:04:21but nevertheless interesting in retrospect
01:04:23because Whitaker went out and gave the round away
01:04:26didn't fight
01:04:27yet most writers at ringside by a small margin
01:04:31seem to believe that Whitaker had won
01:04:33and you have to believe if he went out and claimed the 12th round
01:04:36and fought
01:04:37that that small majority of writers who thought he won
01:04:40might be a landslide
01:04:41it probably would have been
01:04:43and that would have put more pressure
01:04:45on the promoter and on Oscar
01:04:48to make the rematch
01:04:50well if there is a rematch
01:04:51it will be interesting to see if the CompuBox statistical numbers
01:04:54will be different
01:04:56let's take a look at how they looked in the fight
01:04:58total number of punches thrown
01:05:00you can see that Whitaker threw more
01:05:02landed more and landed at a higher percentage
01:05:05the contrast particularly shows up in the category of jabs
01:05:09where Whitaker landed almost four times as many jabs as Delahoya
01:05:13threw twice as many
01:05:15and landed at nearly twice as high a percentage
01:05:19but obviously this is where the Nevada judges found the critical difference in the fight
01:05:23as they saw the power punch category heavily in Delahoya's favor
01:05:27he threw nearly twice as many power punches as Whitaker
01:05:30mostly right hand leads and uppercuts
01:05:33and landed twice as many power blows
01:05:37we're joined now in our New York studio by both of the fighters
01:05:40who've been gracious enough to come in and discuss what happened in those 12 rounds
01:05:44welcome Oscar, welcome Purnell
01:05:46thank you Tim
01:05:46Oscar there was a quote that appeared from you several days before the fight in USA Today
01:05:51which now may bear some relationship to what happened
01:05:54and I'll give you the quote
01:05:55when you said
01:05:56I think it's possible that I would hold sway with the judges not on fistic merit
01:06:01unfortunately that's boxing
01:06:03it's all politics, it's about money
01:06:05what the WBC sees is that I'm a young fighter
01:06:07if I win the title I will make more money than Whitaker or anybody else
01:06:12accurate quote?
01:06:13well not accurate quote but it's basically true
01:06:19I mean boxing is influenced by different things other than great fighters and good performances and other things
01:06:31so I mean every sport is like that, not just boxing but every sport in general
01:06:36so in retrospect do you think the judges on this night may have given you the benefit of the doubt
01:06:41because of those urges?
01:06:43no it was because of my performance
01:06:47then how do you square the fact that so many people in the arena thought it was a close fight
01:06:53and the judges saw it as a one-sided fight?
01:06:57well the judges saw me that I was pressuring and landing more of the hard punches
01:07:08of course Whitaker was throwing punches from different angles and landing a lot of those punches
01:07:16and going back doing it which is very difficult which I give them a lot of credit doing
01:07:22but the judges didn't see that he was doing, was landing enough punches that were effective
01:07:33a fight is where two fighters are going at it and see who wins
01:07:43and that's the way the judges were seeing this fight
01:07:46they didn't want to see someone going back and landing non-effective blows
01:07:54how do you respond to that?
01:07:56I disagree wholeheartedly
01:07:57because in the fight it's who's in control
01:08:00it's the man who comes out, sets the tempo of the fight and controls it
01:08:06and that's what I done from the opening bell which was to control the fight
01:08:11now obviously watching the fight if you watch the tape again
01:08:15both men had movement going back
01:08:19if I'm not mistaken he had movement going back
01:08:23I had to chase him literally
01:08:25on some occasions
01:08:28your style is to go back more than his is
01:08:30that's my style but I also go forward
01:08:34and in this fight I also moved forward because I controlled him during the whole fight
01:08:39which I thought I won easily
01:08:42if not, you know, close enough to at least have a draw
01:08:46and not lose my title
01:08:48Brunel, your camp had asked before the fight
01:08:51that Nevada judges be used instead of international WBC judges
01:08:56and there's a long history of Nevada judges favoring aggressive fighters who go forward
01:09:01well Jim, I also disagree with that also because to me obviously, to me I just let the fans judge
01:09:12Prunel Whitaker
01:09:13you know, and not try to lend too much on the side of the judges
01:09:18but you have to deal with them Prunel
01:09:20I mean that's the reality
01:09:22that's obviously true but in reality also I have no control on how they're going to write with that pencil
01:09:29on that piece of paper
01:09:30and you know, but as long as I have the viewing audience and the people who
01:09:37who understands boxing and watches boxing and knows they're boxing
01:09:43they're going to suggest suggestively choose the man who they think won the fight
01:09:49and if there's any fan and if you have a toll or 1-800 that the people can call in
01:09:55I'm sure they will tell you who won the fight
01:09:57well the people in the arena that night of course responded very positively to everything Oscar was doing
01:10:03but let's take a moment to look back at something that happened in your corner between the 8th and 9th
01:10:09rounds Prunel
01:10:10this was a discussion that you had with your trainer Lou Duva and your co-trainer Ronnie Shields
01:10:16I'm telling you right now, we're behind on the fight
01:10:17it's okay, you're right, just telling you right now
01:10:20you want to come in too don't you?
01:10:21I'll lose it then
01:10:22no, no, no, no, you're going to win, you're going to knock this guy out
01:10:25you're going to punch, that's going to punch
01:10:28now it seems what was going on there Prunel is that you were saying
01:10:32if I can't, if I'm losing this fight up to now then I've lost
01:10:36because I can't do any better or anything else when they were telling you you were losing
01:10:40well Larry I honestly thought that they were just keeping my spirits up or keeping me mentally in control of
01:10:49the fight
01:10:49and not getting lackadaisical and something happens
01:10:54that's what I thought that was a discussion
01:10:56and me being a professional as long as I've been
01:10:59you know I can only think that's the only way that you know this discussion was taking place
01:11:06how were you seeing the fight, Oscar? I mean during the fight
01:11:10could you be sure, since it was a very unusual fight for you to be in, of how it was
01:11:16going?
01:11:17well, it's really difficult to really see how a fight is going, if you're ahead or not
01:11:22because you're so focused on just sticking to your game plan or trying to stick to your game plan
01:11:30but I felt I was doing enough to win the fight
01:11:34one thing you were doing in an obvious effort to win the fight was
01:11:37you seemed to be conscious of flurrying toward the end of rounds
01:11:41flurrying toward the end of close rounds
01:11:43flurrying toward the end of all rounds
01:11:45and we can see this happening here in the closing seconds of round 4
01:11:49where you'll step into a southpaw stance
01:11:51and then fire a barrage of punches to end the round
01:11:54maybe only one or two of them landed
01:11:55but nevertheless, it's an attempt to make an impression
01:11:58here in the 9th round, even after you've been knocked down
01:12:01you flurry again in the closing seconds of the round
01:12:04and by the 10th round, it appears that Purnell has picked up on the fact
01:12:08that you've been doing this throughout the fight
01:12:10so when you flurry here, he tries to come back at you in the past few seconds of the round
01:12:16was that a strategy going into the fight to try to steal rounds
01:12:20or make an impression on the judges by flurrying in the closing seconds?
01:12:24Well, when you have a fight that is going to be based on styles
01:12:29and is going to be kind of like a chess match
01:12:32you want to do everything possible to try to win the round in the last 30-20 seconds
01:12:38even in the middle of the rounds, you want to throw a flurry
01:12:41and show the judges that you want this fight and you want to win this fight
01:12:47obviously this fight was a chess match because of styles
01:12:52I went into this fight, truthfully, I went into this fight
01:12:56not knowing what I was doing
01:12:59Whitaker has a very difficult style
01:13:01and I went in there on just hard alone and conditioning
01:13:07Did you notice, Purnell, that he was coming at you more aggressively in the closing seconds of rounds?
01:13:13Well, I knew that that's what was happening
01:13:16but I also knew that that was out of just pure desperation
01:13:21But isn't it your job knowing that officials can be swayed
01:13:26maybe the round was closed for you to try to do the same thing
01:13:29Of course, and as Jim said, I picked up on that
01:13:36but obviously I still don't want to get into exchanges
01:13:39where both fighters are throwing punches
01:13:42and you don't know where the punches are coming from
01:13:44Anything can happen when you get into an exchange like that
01:13:49I may never see the punch coming that knocks me out
01:13:52You talked, Oscar, about how difficult a style he has
01:13:57Are your expectations so high that everybody else's expectations are so high
01:14:02that you're finding now that you're judged on a different kind of level
01:14:07even including myself and the media and everything expecting this extraordinary performance?
01:14:13It's not that I'm judged wrongly by people
01:14:17it's just that, you know, it's a long story of what happened in this fight
01:14:23I went in in the best shape of my life
01:14:25I was in shape physically
01:14:30but the game plan was totally wrong
01:14:33You saw the fight, Whitaker had the perfect game plan
01:14:36I was moving to his right and falling into his trap
01:14:40and the game plan was just off
01:14:43Larry and I had a mini debate during the fight about the effectiveness of your switching to a southpaw stance
01:14:49It appeared to me you did that because you wanted to make your left hand, which is your stronger hand,
01:14:55a factor in the fight
01:14:56and I think on some occasions you scored as the result of it
01:15:00but you also got knocked down in the ninth round when you were in a southpaw stance
01:15:04In retrospect, are you glad you did it or is it something you wouldn't try a second time around?
01:15:09Well, it's something you have to work on
01:15:10I mean, if you want to be a complete fighter, you want to do everything possible to show everyone that
01:15:16you can do whatever you want inside that ring
01:15:17and it all comes with experience
01:15:20I mean, I still need many more years of learning
01:15:22Alright, you said that you could do 50 times better, Oscar, than you did in that fight
01:15:27Immediately after the fight, in the heat of all of the celebration, you said you wanted to give Purnell a
01:15:36rematch
01:15:37Since that time, it seems you've hedged your statements a little bit
01:15:41Where are you now on that?
01:15:43No, I'll fight Whitaker anywhere, anytime, that's for sure
01:15:45But that isn't what your promoter says about the prospect of a rematch
01:15:49Well, it's a matter of just agreeing with something, you know, with my promoter and his promoter and we'll do
01:15:54it, no problem
01:15:55Will you go to your promoter, Bob Arum, and say, let's see if we can make that deal
01:16:01Or is your schedule so set for the rest of the year that it's not going to be on the
01:16:07foreseeable schedule?
01:16:08Well, actually, I mean, I call the shots, I can fight whenever I want
01:16:12So I'll go to my promoter and we can talk about it and we'll work something out, that's for sure
01:16:16Do you expect it to happen, Purnell?
01:16:18I would sure hope so, I think that it's needed to happen twice
01:16:24And it's about merits, it's about...
01:16:29But Purnell, a lot of people thought it wasn't a very exciting fight
01:16:33And even those who thought you won the fight are saying, why would we want to see that again?
01:16:41Well, then you would have to give me a little more proof on people who say that it wasn't an
01:16:48exciting fight
01:16:49It was probably one of the most exciting fights of this decade
01:16:55And secondly, I know the fans probably would want to see it again because they don't take to the first
01:17:01time
01:17:01They don't take to what happened the first time around
01:17:04I'm still confused about what happened
01:17:08Purnell, it now appears that Oscar's schedule calls for a fight against David Kamau in June
01:17:13Hector Camacho in September, a possible mandatory against a French challenger in January
01:17:18How long are you willing to wait and what will you do in the interim?
01:17:20Oh, no, no, no, no, no, I don't do any waiting around
01:17:24If it's gonna happen, it has to happen, and it has to happen soon
01:17:28Alright, but will you go out there and if it doesn't happen soon, try to make a case
01:17:33against the likes of Ike Corte or Felix Trinidad
01:17:37No, no, because he does nothing for Purnell Whitaker
01:17:40That means I would have to start round robbing him all over
01:17:43Can you, you've had so much such
01:17:45The best fighter in the world, pound for pound, you don't have to wait for him
01:17:47You've had such difficulty in maintaining your complete focus
01:17:52Needing a challenge like Oscar to get yourself
01:17:55I won't have that
01:17:55Can you do that again?
01:17:57Of course, I won't have that problem anymore
01:17:59As you see, mentally and physically
01:18:01The preparation of, I still am 33 years old
01:18:06But I showed the oldness of the young Purnell Whitaker of old
01:18:13I showed the Purnell Whitaker out there of 7 or 8 years ago
01:18:17So I would have that, and I love that Purnell Whitaker
01:18:206 or 7 years ago, virtually everybody regarded you as the best pound for pound fighter in the world
01:18:25You just stated moments ago that you still think you are
01:18:27And I still am
01:18:28Oscar, are you the best pound for pound fighter in the world?
01:18:30No, I never said I was, and I never say I will be until a year or two
01:18:34I always told everyone that it's going to take more years of experience and more fights
01:18:38I only have 24 fights, I have 4 years of professional boxing
01:18:42And it's going to take more time
01:18:44Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming in
01:18:46We appreciate you being so generous with your time
01:18:48Thank you, Jim
01:18:48Well, it was billed as the battle for pound for pound supremacy in the sport
01:18:52In the end, it serves as another advertisement for the difficulty of awarding that mythical crown to any single fighter
01:18:59Amid the multitude of styles and politics and career paths that complicate boxing
01:19:05Delahoya won, but had very little chance to look good doing it
01:19:09Whitaker lost, but firmly believes he won, and in some quarters gained even more respect for his Hall of Fame
01:19:15career
01:19:16Other fighters from all corners of the weight classification spectrum will now apply for the title of best pound for
01:19:23pound
01:19:23And the world waits to see if there will be a Delahoya-Whitaker rematch
01:19:29Larry, what's your take on whether and when they'll fight again?
01:19:33First, Jim, I think that Oscar and his handlers underestimated what Pernell Whitaker could bring to their party
01:19:41And I think they're not going to look to kill that golden goose laying those golden eggs soon again
01:19:48And I don't think, however, that Whitaker is quite aware of the fact that it's not going to happen soon
01:19:55And that he's going to have to go out and beat somebody and keep the pressure on for a rematch
01:20:00That's the only possible way I think it could happen
01:20:04Interestingly, though promoter Bob Arum was adamant immediately after the fight and saying there would be no rematch
01:20:09I've had discussions with him that indicate that after a passage of time
01:20:13If Whitaker can make a statement to the effect that such a fight ought to take place
01:20:17It will take place when Delahoy's people are convinced he's better prepared to fight tricky southpaws
01:20:23I know there's one other statement you wanted to make about what happened last Saturday night
01:20:27Thank you, Jim
01:20:28I made a mistake before the fight we've been reviewing
01:20:31I made some remarks about some music during the pre-fight ceremony that could have been and was misunderstood
01:20:40It was not my intent to offend anyone
01:20:42I apologize to Oscar Delahoya and his fans for those remarks
01:20:47No apologies from 48-year-old George Foreman for the fact that he'll be getting back into the ring
01:20:53Saturday night on HBO's world championship boxing against a relatively little known fighter named Lou Savarese
01:20:59Interestingly Savarese is the odds maker's favorite in the fight
01:21:03Over 30 years old, undefeated, must have had some terrific matchmaking
01:21:08And you wonder what his handlers know about him that we don't
01:21:12George Foreman thinks he hasn't been in with anybody like him
01:21:16Couldn't handle his pressure and punch
01:21:19Savarese must think George is ready to be taken a perfect opportunity
01:21:23That's what the fight is about
01:21:24So while we look ahead to George Foreman against Lou Savarese on HBO's world championship boxing Saturday night
01:21:30We thank you again for being with us to look back at Oscar Delahoya against Pernell Whitaker
01:21:42A reminder, heavyweight action returns to HBO next Saturday night at 10 o'clock Eastern
01:21:46When George Foreman faces undefeated Lou Savarese
01:21:49Then on May 16th, an intriguing matchup between two of boxing's hardest punchers
01:21:54Ray Mercer and Andrew Gulotta
01:21:56Plus, Tim Witherspoon against Jimmy Thunder on a heavyweight doubleheader
01:22:01And join us May 12th for the next installment of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
01:22:06Featured in this edition, a profile of the outspoken Charles Barkley
01:22:09An in-depth interview with Bud Selig on the status of baseball and the commissioner's office
01:22:14Real Sports, the only show of its kind, and it's only on HBO
01:22:20The executive producer of HBO Sports is Ross Greenberg
01:22:23Tonight's telecast of world championship boxing was produced by Rick Bernstein
01:22:28And directed by Mark Payton
01:22:30The associate producers were Kirby Bradley, David Leapson, and Brian McDonald
01:22:35Assistant to the producer, Jonathan Crystal
01:22:37The production manager was John McCallum
01:22:40And the technical supervisor, Bob Hunter
01:22:50The executive director of the Bivoli
01:22:51The executive producer, John McCallum
01:23:05The executive producer, John McCallum
01:23:12The executive manager for the general program
01:23:13Oh, yeah.
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