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| Date | May 3, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Home Depot Center, Carson, California, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| De La Hoya wins via unanimous decision (120–108, 119–109, 119–109) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes, billed as Homecoming, was a professional boxing match contested on May 3, 2008.
Background
Oscar De La Hoya, having lost his previous fight to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5, 2007, announced his return in February 2008 to boxing in what would prove to be a year-long absence to face Steve Forbes on May 3, 2008, a former IBF super featherweight champion who had recently appeared on the ESPN reality show The Contender. The bout was looked upon as a mere tune-up for De La Hoya prior to facing Mayweather Jr. in a planned rematch later that year in September.
De La Hoya once gain employed Mayweather's estranged father Floyd Mayweather Sr., who had previously trained him from 2000 to 2006, as his trainer after opting to hire Freddie Roach for his fight against Floyd Jr. to avoid the perceived conflict of having his opponent's father train him and also refusing to pay the elder Mayweather's demanded $2 million salary, though De La Hoya announced his intentions to keep Mayweather Sr. as his trainer for not only the Forbes fight but for his planned rematch with Mayweather Jr. as well. Adding further drama, Forbes initially employed Roger Mayweather, Floyd Sr.'s younger brother and Mayweather Jr.'s uncle and current trainer to train him for the De La Hoya fight. However, when Floyd Jr. threatened to fire Roger should he continue working with Forbes, which in turn caused Forbes to fire Roger and replace him with Jeff Mayweather, the youngest brother of Floyd Sr. and Roger. Jeff himself had been beaten by De La Hoya in 1993.
The Fight
De La Hoya served as the aggressor from the opening round on, as he would win in extremely lopsided fashion. De La Hoya threw 810 punches, landing 253 of them, which was over 100 more than Forbes, who landed only 152. De La Hoya constantly pressed the action, stalking Forbes and landing consistent combinations to Forbes body and head. Though De La Hoya bloodied Forbes' nose, he was unable to score a knockdown and the fight went the full 12-round distance, though De La Hoya would nearly complete a sweep of Forbes on all three scorecards, winning all 12 rounds on one (120–108) and all but one round on the other two (119–107).
Aftermath
The victory would prove to be the final one of De La Hoya's professional career.
Fight card
Confirmed bouts:
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catchweight | 150 lbs. | Oscar De La Hoya | def. | Steve Forbes | UD | 12/12 | |
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Victor Ortiz | def. | Dairo Esalas | KO | 5/10 | |
| Super Welterweight | 154 lbs. | Sven Paris | def. | Freddy Curiel | SD | 8/8 | |
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Wes Ferguson | def. | Miguel Angel Munguia | UD | 8/8 | |
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Danny Garcia | def. | Julio Gamboa | UD | 6/6 | |
| Super Lightweight | 140 lbs. | Hector Sanchez | def. | Arthur Brambila | UD | 4/4 | |
| Super Middleweight | 168 lbs. | Daniel Jacobs | def. | Jose Pena | TKO | 1/4 |
Broadcasting
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States |
HBO |
References
- "Oscar De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
- De La Hoya-Forbes set for May 3 in tune-up for Mayweather rematch, ESPN article, 2008-02–16, Retrieved on 2024-11-20
- De La Hoya to battle ‘The Contender’, L.A. Times article, 2008-04–27, Retrieved on 2024-11-20
- De La Hoya happy with Mayweather Sr. at the helm, ESPN article, 2008-05–01, Retrieved on 2024-11-20
- Word of Mayweather feud leads Forbes to fire Roger, hire Jeff Mayweather, ESPN article, 2008-03–20, Retrieved on 2024-11-20
- Offensive Oscar dominates Forbes in unanimous decision, ESPN Times article, 2008-05-03 Retrieved on 2024-11-23
- "BoxRec - event".
| Preceded byvs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. | Oscar De La Hoya's bouts 3 May 2008 |
Succeeded byvs. Manny Pacquiao |
| Preceded byvs. Francisco Bojado | Steve Forbes's bouts 3 May 2008 |
Succeeded byvs. Andre Berto |