by CharlieSGV21/Vezwood/Siren1927
Controversial Fight Series returns with a refreshed judging panel and a new case to score. Can The Boxing Tribune’s officials find justice for Felix Sturm?
FELIX STURM (20-0, 9 KO, WBO Titleholder)
vs.
OSCAR DE LA HOYA (36-3, 29 KO)
June 5, 2004 | MGM Grand – Las Vegas, NV
June 5th, 2004
After slumping to his third career defeat, his second decision loss to Shane Mosley, it was time for ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya to move up in weight. It was his first time to weight over 154 pounds, so they carefully mapped a tune-up fight before stepping into the ring against Bernard Hopkins. However, De La Hoya piled on the pounds in an unusual fashion, making him slow and out of shape.
Felix Sturm was still a prospect. He might have successfully defended his WBO belt against Ruben Varon in December 2003, but that didn’t make him a world beater. Sturm was there to earn a payday, get beaten impressively by De La Hoya, and allow the popular figure to make a statement to the world, and most importantly, Hopkins.
Nobody predicted the fight to be competitive. It was meant to be as one-sided as De La Hoya’s defeating of Hector Camacho, as easy a payday for De La Hoya as he’ll ever get in his professional career. However, Strum had other ideas.
Sturm shocked De La Hoya by coming forward, keeping his ears warm with his gloves, absorbing every straight left jab and even landing with his solid straight shots, nothing risky, nothing flashy, just straight forward punching. Did De La Hoya’s work rate do enough to win the fight? Or did Sturm’s cleaner more accurate punches land him a breakthrough victory?
The Boxing Tribune have replaced the judges, with our own balanced panel. The three judges will be CharlieSGV21 and Vezwood and Siren1927. They will give their round by round opinion, with a quest to find if Sturm was robbed at ringside.
Round 1
CharlieSGV21 – “Despite the Sky Sports commentators, De La Hoya only ate a few jabs and a hook or so. De La Hoya bullies Sturm around and works the body, landing about half of his punches.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Vezwood – “De La Hoya opens well with a good flurry of body shots. Sturm comes back with a good left hook and looks to utilise his jab against De La Hoya’s non existent guard. Towards the end of the round, De La Hoya is the busier fighter.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Siren1927 – “First minute is all De La Hoya as he unloads to the body with uppercuts. Sturm keeps firing the jab but De La Hoya wants to impose himself from the get-go. The pace slows towards the second half of the round and Sturm’s Jab is clearly a factor. Sturm comes right back at the end of the round and they finish the round going toe to toe. De La Hoya edges this due to the first minute of action.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Round 2
CharlieSGV21 – “I must be watching a different fight from what the Sky guys are, because 2 jabs from Sturm don’t beat 10 hooks to the body. Golden Boy wins the round.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Vezwood – “Sturm looks to take the middle of the ring and forces De La Hoya onto the back foot. An overhand right from Sturm rocks back the Golden Boy’s head and De La Hoya answers with a flurry of body shots. Sturm’s composed tight guard is soaking up most of De La Hoya’s punches.” 10-9 Sturm
Siren1927 – “Oscar keeps throwing the jab, but Sturm is catching most of them. A good left overhand right gives Sturm control until Oscar fires back to the body. Nothing of note until the end of the round when they trade again. De La Hoya has zero defence here and its only his lack of defence that stops him winning the round.” 10-9 Sturm
Round 3
CharlieSGV21 – “De La Hoya hangs on the outside some more and allows Sturm to control the pace. Some shoe-shining from DLH, but Sturm cracks some good stuff on the inside. Sky Sports has scored every round opposite to me.” 10-9 Sturm
Vezwood – “Much of the early work is from De La Hoya with Sturm taking most of the punches on his gloves. A left uppercut lands from Sturm followed by a good right hand. De La Hoya ends the round with some good body work.” 10-10 Even
Siren1927 – “De La Hoya again starts with the jab but none of them are scoring shots. The guard of Sturm is very impressive as its catching everything. Sturm is doing great work defending the body with his elbows. De La Hoya has started moving more but Sturm seems to land almost every punch he throws. De La Hoya gets through with a solid right hand to the body in the last thirty seconds and his general activity wins him the round.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Round 4
CharlieSGV21 – “De La Hoya comes on strong at the end of the round, but for 99% of the round, Sturm controls it, although nobody is getting hurt aside from one hard body shot from De La Hoya.” 10-9 Sturm
Vezwood – “De La Hoya comes out lively and lands a good left jab, right hook combination, followed by some more good body shots in the middle of the round. Sturm still utilising his jab rocks De La Hoya’s head back with a stiff left. De La Hoya ends the round with a good combination which looks to have given Sturm his first problem of the night.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Siren1927 – “Oscar is moving around the ring but Sturm is giving people a lesson in how to cut the ring off. Oscar lands a good right-left hook combo before switching downstairs to the body. Sturm lands a good right hand in response. Sturm’s jab can’t miss at the moment. They trade at the end of the round to a standing ovation. A Sturm round for me.” 10-9 Sturm
After 4 Rounds: CharlieSGV21 – 38-38 Even; Vezwood – 39-38 De La Hoya; Siren1927 – 38-38 Even;
Round 5
CharlieSGV21 – “It’s a pretty even round, but Sturm clinches it with a clean landed lead left hook.” 10-9 Sturm
Vezwood – “Again, De La Hoya starts brightly, but Sturm’s impressive guard is taking all his shots. Sturm throws a good right uppercut which De La Hoya responds with a good left-right combination. Sturm ends the round with a good left hook to the head.” 10-10 Even
Siren1927 – “Oscar starts off far more cautious and it seems to work as he lands a few jabs and a good body shot. De La Hoya is starting to land more regularly, but Sturm is taking every shot and landing jabs at will. De La Hoya is banging away to the body, and having success, but a great head-snapping shot from Sturm, who even waves to the crowd. It’s not enough to take the round in my opinion.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Round 6
CharlieSGV21 – “Even work from both fighters, but De La Hoya is back to moving and making Sturm miss by avoiding the jab nicely.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Vezwood – “Coming up to the halfway point in the fight and Sturm starts to exert some pressure and begins to push De La Hoya back. Sturm dominates the first half of the round and then connects with a good uppercut. Sturm ends the most one-sided round so far with a good jab and a switch-hit right hand.” 10-9 Sturm
Siren1927 – “Sturm starts the round on the front foot again working behind the jab. Sturm is landing three to every one of De La Hoya’s punches in the first ninety seconds of this round. Oscar clearly needs a plan B because Sturm’s defence is far better than Golden Boy’s offence at the moment. The low left hand is costing De La Hoya at the moment yet he seems to have no answer and he has definitely slowed.” 10-9 Sturm
Round 7
CharlieSGV21 – “De La Hoya gasses out at the end of the round and lets Sturm counter him, but the first 2/3 of the round belonged to De La Hoya.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Vezwood – “A quiet opening to the round sees Sturm utilising his jab again. De La Hoya tries to answer with a good combination, but he doesn’t seem to put a dent in Sturm, who comes back with a stiff right uppercut. Sturm then dominates the end of the round with a good right hook and right counter punch.” 10-9 Sturm
Siren1927 – “Oscar comes out firing jabs and straight rights, lands maybe 2/10. Sturm is definitely comfortable with the ring now and he clearly fancies the job. De La Hoya with a good three-punch combination, but Sturm’s pot-shotting is outlanding him. Sturm is on the back-foot now making Oscar come looking for him and it seems to be working as he takes the round.” 10-9 Sturm
Round 8
CharlieSGV21 – “De La Hoya throwing 3-4 punch combinations. Sturm works the middle of the round with solid potshots, but De La Hoya comes on at the end to take it.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Vezwood – “De La Hoya starts well with two combinations in quick succession. Sturm resorts back to his jab, but De La Hoya starts to use a better defense and comes back with a good left to the body and ends the round with a nice combination.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Siren1927 – “De La Hoya again starts well with some good combinations. However, within a minute Sturm has taken control again. Both fighters take turns in going to the front foot. It’s a good fight, far better than I remember if I’m honest. Towards the end of the round it looks like Sturm is taking a breather as De La Hoya asserts his control and wins the round.” 10-9 De La Hoya
After 8 Rounds: CharlieSGV21 – 77-75 De La Hoya; Vezwood – 77-77 Even; Siren1927 – 76-76 Even
Round 9
CharlieSGV21 – “Sturm handles De La Hoya’s flurries just fine and controls the round with his jab and a short right. Sturm doesn’t dominate, but does enough to take it.” 10-9 Sturm
Vezwood – “De La Hoya comes out strong with a nice combo to the body which Sturm replies with two stiff jabs which rock Oscar’s head back. De La Hoya answers with a nice three-punch combination which in turn is answered by a nice left hand by Sturm. The second half of the round sees Sturm pushing De La Hoya back and Oscar trying to land a big combo which is blocked by Sturm’s tight guard. The end of the round sees Oscar eat two more stiff jabs from Sturm.” 10-9 Sturm
Siren1927 – Oscar starts again with his eye catching body work then a great left to the body and straight right. Sturm lands with a big left but the workrate has definitely dropped here. Sturm lands about seven jabs with noting in reply with a few right hands mixed in. Oscar starts to jab back but Sturm just counters. Sturm round.” 10-9 Sturm
Round 10
CharlieSGV21 – “I almost gave the round to De La Hoya due to some flurries and three hard right hands over the top and to the body. But Sturm’s more consistent work edges it.” 10-9 Sturm
Vezwood – “A good start from De La Hoya with a nice combination which lands. Sturm then comes back with a good left hook and jab which rock back the head of De La Hoya. De La Hoya is throwing but looking increasingly tired. However, a jab by Sturm is nicely countered by Oscar and they both stand and trade, both landing. The round ends with a nice left hand from Sturm.” 10-10 Even
Siren1927 – “De La Hoya comes out with a bang but Sturm seems to be catching everything. In every round Oscar has started well and then faded, it’s a very worrying situation to be in. De La Hoya is far more active just much less accurate and Sturm takes this yet again.” 10-9 Sturm
Round 11
CharlieSGV21 – “Despite some flurries by De La Hoya, Sturm’s decision to turn southpaw is the right one as he feeds De La Hoya a ton of flush straight lefts. Comfortable Sturm round.” 10-9 Sturm
Vezwood – “Felix Sturm looks to command the centre of the ring and pushes De La Hoya back. Great action in this round as both fighters throw and land great combinations. Again, Sturm pushes De La Hoya onto the back foot and towards the end of the round, he connects with three left hands.” 10-9 Sturm
Siren1927 – “De La Hoya finally gets into the swing of things with a great combo throwing lefts and rights like a mad man. Sturm gets a few in-between but Oscar gets the better of it with the more eye catching work. Sturm lands a few jabs again but Oscar has finally found a way through Sturm’s defence. Sturm again comes back at the end of the round landing left hands at will.” 10-9 Sturm
Round 12
CharlieSGV21 – “Sturm does some decent work, but De La Hoya flurries well to the body. Jabs to the face for a minute don’t negate 2 minutes of hooks to the body. The Sky Sports commentating team were awful. It could have gone either way and isn’t the robbery of the decade like they were making it sound.” 10-9 De La Hoya
Vezwood – “Oscar starts well with a good right to the body. Sturm comes back with a good uppercut. De La Hoya then sensing the fight could be close connects with a nice combination. Sturm comes back with a nice right to the head and De La Hoya in turn answers with two great flurries. However, Sturm doesn’t seem too worried and waves De La Hoya on. Sturm then connects with a great left hand which momentarily stiffens the legs of De La Hoya and the final bell rings.” 10-10 Even
Siren1927 – “Oscar wants to trade and Sturm obliges as they both catch each other, but Oscar is throwing far more. Yet again, Oscar tires after the first minute . Oscar throws eight punches in a combo but doesn’t land a thing. Sturm rocks him with a left and he follows it up with another. Sturm is waving to the crowds. He’s won this fight, he knows it, we all know it. Oscar just cannot catch him in the last twenty seconds and here comes the robbery.” 10-9 Sturm
Official Scores: David Moretti 115-113 De La Hoya; Mike Glienna 115-113 De La Hoya; Paul Smith 115-113 De La Hoya;
Oscar De La Hoya wins by unanimous decision
The Boxing Tribune Scorecards: CharlieSGV21 – 114-114 Even; Vezwood 117-115 Sturm; Siren1927 – 116-112 Sturm
Felix Sturm wins by majority decision
The Boxing Tribune’s Combined Scorecard
Round 1 – De La Hoya 10-9 (0-3);
Round 2 – Sturm 10-9 (2-1);
Round 3 – Even 10-10 (1-1-1);
Round 4 – Sturm 10-9 (2-1);
Round 5 – Even 10-10 (1-1-1);
Round 6 – Sturm 10-9 (2-1);
Round 7 – Sturm 10-9 (2-1);
Round 8 – De La Hoya 10-9 (0-3);
Round 9 – Sturm 10-9 (3-0);
Round 10 – Sturm 10-9 (2-0-1);
Round 11 – Sturm 10-9 (3-0);
Round 12 – Even 10-10 (1-1-1);
Total: Strum 118-113
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