Watchdog: Steve's PPV Criteria: De La Hoya vs Mayorga
 WATCHDOG By Steve Hudgins, May 6, 2006
Photo © HBO-PPV
THE PURPOSE: I don't think any one fight can be made in boxing today, that alone, is worth the price of a PPV. Unless of course, they can conjure up Dempsey vs Marciano or Joe Louis, but until that day comes, I want some quantity to go along with quality!

I say, if they want us to shell out 30, 40 sometimes 50 bucks per PPV, they should give us some bang for our buck! The card should be solid from top to bottom! Or at least it should be so top heavy with excellent fights that they can get away with a showcase fight to kick off the festivities, but these 2 or 3 showcase fights and 1 decent to mega main event PPV's are for the birds! (My apologies to any of the birds I may have offended with that statement.)

SO HERE'S MY SYSTEM:

I preview and rate every fight that is scheduled to be televised on a PPV Boxing Card, and try to determine whether that card is worth purchasing or not based on my point system below.

Please note that at the end of each preview, I will mention what weight class the bout is being fought at and where each fighter ranks within that weight class. This is done by using ‘The Ring’ ratings.

HERE'S HOW STEVE'S PPV CRITERIA WORKS!

POINTS:

6 = MEGA MATCHUP
5 = Excellent Matchup
4 = Good Matchup
3 = Decent Matchup
2 = OK Matchup
1 = Bad Matchup

If a fight is scheduled to be televised on the card, it gets at least 1 point. This helps to reward quantity.

POINT SYSTEM:

14 or higher = GET IT!

13 = If you can find someone to split it with you or the price of the PPV is 24.99 or less, GET IT!

12 = If you can find someone to split it with you or the price of the PPV is 19.99 or less CONSIDER getting it.

11 = If you can find a place that is showing it, or get enough people over to split it with you, so that you are not paying more than 10 dollars for the card, CONSIDER getting it.

10 or under = Save your money and sleep well at night knowing you didn't get ripped off!

AND AWAY WE GO!

May 6th - PPV PRICE: $49.95 

OSCAR DE LA HOYA 37-4 (29) vs. RICARDO MAYORGA 28-5-1 (23)

This is a solid matchup. While many folks think this will be a replay of Trinidad/Mayorga in which Trinidad dominated, I don't think it will be, for a few reasons. De La Hoya has not fought since September of 2004 and that was a KO loss to Bernard Hopkins. Surely there will be some ring rust on De La Hoya. Secondly this fight is at 154 lbs as opposed to the 160 pound weight Mayorga faced Trinidad at. The closer Mayorga is to 147 lbs the better he should be. And lastly, Mayorga seems to be training long and hard for this bout, which should keep him from getting gassed after 4 rounds. This should be a classic boxer vs slugger matchup and look for the hard hitting Mayorga to go right after De La Hoya from the start of the 1st round. Mayorga's aggression coupled with De La Hoya's rust should provide, at the very least, an exciting first few rounds.

*This fight will take place at Junior Middleweight (154 lbs) - Neither fighter is rated*

SCORE = 5

KASSIM OUMA 23-2-1 (15) vs. MARCO ANTONIO RUBIO 33-2 (29)

Ouma is looking to get his momentum back after suffering a major upset to Roman Karmazin last year. Rubio has been on a roll having won 7 in a row, 6 by KO, since being brutally KO'd at the hands of Kofi Jantuah back in 2004. This has the makings of an entertaining bout. Ouma is a whirlwind punching machine who has some pop of his own, while Rubio makes his living by the KO. There's a chance that Ouma gets an early lead and walks away with this fight, be even so, Rubio always has a punchers chance. 

*Kassim Ouma is rated # 2 at Junior Middlweight (154 lbs) - Marco Antonio Rubio is not rated*

SCORE = 4

JOAN GUZMAN 24-0 (17) vs. JAVIER JAUREGUI 51-12-2 (35)

This will be many folks first chance to get a look at the talented hard hitting Guzman who is now campaigning at featherweight. Jauregui is long in the tooth, but is a sneaky veteran who is always game and can punch. He should provide some solid work for Guzman.

*Joan Guzman is rated # 9 at Featherweight (126 lbs) - Javier Jauregui is not rated*

SCORE = 2

JORGE PAEZ JR. 7-0 (7) vs. LOWELL BROWNFIELD 7-0 (2)
Don't let the undefeated record of Brownfield fool you. He's never faced a fighter with more wins than losses. Pure showcase for the clown prince of boxing jr.

*This fight will take place at Jr Welterweight* - Neither Fighter is rated*
 
SCORE = 1

FINAL SCORE = 12

SUMMARY: The main even has a lot of intrigue and will probably not disappoint. There aren't a lot of scenarios I can think of that would make this fight boring. Even if De La Hoya dominated Mayorga ala Felix Trinidad, Mayorga will go down swinging and if he ever happens to land that haymaker, it could be lights out for the golden boy. Should be fun.  The main undercard bout between Ouma and Rubio may very well turn out to be an all out war also, although, there's a solid chance Ouma wins it in one sided fashion. The other two fights are basically showcases, although Jauregui might make the bout with Guzman fun while it lasts. All and all, if you can get a few folks over to split the price of the card with you, it will probably be worth getting. If you'd prefer to save some money and wait for the HBO replay next weekend, SHOWTIME may be able to feed your boxing hunger with what should be a fairly decent scrap between Jose Antonio Rivera and Alex ‘Terra’ Garcia.

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