MaxBoxing's Fight Picks for (HBO-PPV) Oscar De La Hoya (37-4) vs. Ricardo Mayorga (28-5-1) May 6
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Doug Fischer - De La Hoya by Close Dec
(For Mayorga to win he has to press De La Hoya hard and non-stop for at least four consecutive rounds, however, the Nicaraguan is not a pressure fighter. He's an aggressive bomber who fights in spurts. He likes to jump at his opponents and then back off and pose for a minute or two. He likes to invite his opponents to trade with him in hopes of countering. The guess here is that De La Hoya is too smart for that. All Oscar needs to do is keep his distance for the opening rounds until he gets his timing and rhythm together - then it should be target practice down the stretch.)
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Chee (icheehuahua) - Oscar 12 Round UD, or Late Round KO

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Thomas Gerbasi - ODLH W12

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Gary Randall - Oscar De La Hoya TKO9 Mayorga
(As tough as Mayorga is, I don't believe he will be able to beat boxing's Golden Boy. DLH has proven to have a great beard in tough fights (Ask Fernando Vargas and Ike Quartey) and has too many skills and speed in his arsenal for Mayorga to over come. Mayorga's best bet at this fight is strong early aggression.)
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Jason Probst - De La Hoya by close decision.
(This is a more competitive fight than some might think. Mayorga will put
pressure on Oscar from the beginning, albeit ugly swings and telegraphed
attacks. I just don't think Oscar has the two-handed power to get rid of him
easily, and when he feels the heavy shots landing that years before
wouldn't, he'll have to ride a fine line between effectiveness and tactical
smarts. Should be a live scrap with conditioning making the difference down
the stretch. At 154, the edge is clearly to Mayorga and it remains to be
seen what Oscar has left and how much Felix Trinidad took out of Mayorga
with that awful beating. Whoever has more wins.)
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Tom Hogan/ HoganPhotos.com - Mayorga TKO De La Hoya rd 8
(I think Mayorga will pressure De La Hoya and finally catch Oscar with a few bombs that will stop the fight. Too much rust for Oscar to shake. Although Oscar will try to box, Mayorga is willing to walk through the jabs to land his shots. Remember, Vernon Forrest was an excellent boxer too. My money goes on Mayorga by KO/TKO.)

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Martin Mulcahey -
(This boils down to a one dimensional fighter vs. a rusty multi talented hall of famer, even if it takes a couple rounds Oscar will warm up to the task by the fourth round and sweep the final six rounds to win a unanimous decision. Oscar might have the pretty boy tag but can get mean when pushed, and he has been more then at any point of his career outside of Fernando Vargas. This is a fight designed to make Oscar look good, heck look how good Mayorga made the Trinidad who was dominated by Winky Wright look. P.S - I will be rooting for Mayorga though.)
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David Kolb - Oscar unanimous decision
(If the fight happens, Dey la Hoya will take some shots early, but will win a unanimous decision by outboxing Mayorga throughout.)
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German Villasenor - De La Hoya via decision.
(Too much skill despite the long layoff, De La Hoya's greater movemnet, technique and variety of punches will ultimately out work the wild shooting Mayorga in a nail biter to the end.)
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Lee Groves - Oscar de la Hoya W 12 Ricardo Mayorga
(The only intrigue surrounding this bout is how Oscar's 20-month layoff and 33 years of age will affect him. An active De La Hoya would have schooled Mayorga with his speed and skill, but it's been a long time since Oscar has looked good in the ring. Mayorga looked good in the early rounds against Michele Piccirillo but in the middle and late rounds he was good but not spectacular. Oscar's a smart guy and he wouldn't have picked Mayorga to be his comeback opponent if he didn't believe he would not only win but look good doing so. An upset is possible, especially early on, but I think "The Golden Boy" will score a solid decision victory.)
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Ernest Gabion - DLH UD
(too smart to actually stay in front of Mayorga he will outbox him cruising to a decision.)

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Larry Brown - De La Hoya UD 12 Mayorga
(De La Hoya will fight the smart fight. He will be able to out-point and frustrate Mayorga similar to the way Cory Spinks handled Mayorga. Having been out for so long, it's less likely he'll be able to catch Mayorga and knock him down. Mayorga still has the great punching potential to nail Oscar if he leaves himself open at the wrong moment or if Oscar decides to try and slug it out. As long as De La Hoya sticks to a technical fight, he should cruise to victory.)
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Allan Scotto - De La Hoya by KO in the 9th round
(This is a fascinating fight to pick. Mayorga seems to have taken a page from Fernando Vargas' book and assumed the role of bully. And we all know how well Fernando held up once Oscar got his hands on him in the ring. But, some would point out, that was a different Oscar, which is true. But this is also a different Mayorga than the guy who demolished Vernon Forrest. The guy who beat Forrest was hungry. Since then, Mayorga has looked horrible, even when he wins. The way for Oscar to win is to remember a very basic rule of boxing; a straight punch will always land before the wide haymakers that Mayorga throws. That's what Trinidad figured out when he left Mayorga in a heap on the canvas. Oscar needs to work inside those wide shots of Mayorga and pick him apart. But, Oscar will have to withstand Mayorga's initial onslaught which will undoubtedly come. That being said, if Mayorga does land one of those bombs, it could turn the fight around in a hurry. There is one other thing that Mayorga could do that I don't think Oscar would expect, and that is to go to Oscar's body and wear him down, and then come up top. Either way, isn't it nice to see that HBO has stumbled upon a fight that's actually worth fifty bucks.)
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Diego Morilla - Oscar De La Hoya TKO 8 Ricardo Mayorga
(You mess with the bull, you get the "salchicha"! There's not enough Matador in Mayorga to stop the raging bull in Oscar, a guy who'd rather have a sloppy forward-charging cocky fighter for breakfast instead of his Captain Crunchs. It will be quite the entertaining affair while it lasts, but no matter what Mayorga chooses to do, Oscar will have an answer, and after the arrival of that moment, Mayorga will end up wishing a bull had ran over him.)

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Peter Mooney - De La Hoya by late TKO
(Too polished for Mayorga and he won't be bullied as some fighters are by the Nicaraguan