Cox's Corner

The DeLahoya-Mosely 2 Decision

While the Delahoya-Mosely rematch was certainly not the worst decision I have seen, I actually thought the fight was fairly close with Mosley finishing strongly over the latter part of the fight, it was clear to me that Oscar was the one who executed his fight plan more effectively, controlled most of the action, and outscored his opponent and thus deserved the decision.

After the first two rounds which I scored for Delahoya I told my friends that, “Delahoya is controlling the tempo of the fight.” When Mosley got back to his corner his father told him the exact same thing! Yet somehow 2 of the 3 judges managed to give Shane the first round (boggle). I also thought Delahoya won the second round; one good punch does not make up for the other guys winning 2 plus minutes of the round. 2 of the 3 judges also had Mosley sweeping the last 5 rounds, this certainly wasn't the case. Oscar controlled the pace and countered effectively with Shane landing mostly one punch at a time. Oscar easily outscored his opponent in compubox numbers, out landing Shane 221 to 127 overall, 115 to 94 in power punches and 106-33 in jabs. The first round Mosley clearly won was the ninth round, which was the best round of the fight for either fighter, but by then he was seriously trailing on points or should have been.

So what were the officials looking at? Perhaps the judges need to review my article How To Score a Fight. Shane was the “aggressor” but this in itself is meaningless. One writer on a boxing site (who scored the fight even) noted that Mosely was the “aggressor.” Being aggressive means little; the scoring category is called “effective aggression.” It was Oscar who was controlling the pace and tempo of the fight and countering Mosley effectively. It was Oscar who was neutralizing Mosley’s aggressiveness with defense and sharp counters and a controlling jab. This is what should have counted in the scoring. Mosely had long periods where he was landing one punch at a time while Oscar was piling up the points. Muhammad Ali won most of his fights in the same manner, outscoring and neutralizing aggressive one punch at a time fighters. I wonder how many people who thought Mosley won would have scored the fight for Ali against an opponent in a similar fight?

A quick review of the 4 major categories of scoring reveals the following:

1. Clean and hard punching: Oscar outscored his opponent with clean punches by a significant statistical margin. Shane had lulls where he wasn’t throwing any punches and was forced to land one big shot at a time. Both fighters landed hard punches, especially to the body. Shane landed a few of the hardest punches but Oscar landed far more. Edge: Delahoya

2. Effective aggression: Mosley, as previously noted, was the “aggressor” but he wasn’t putting on effective pressure. How many times did Oscar’s back hit the ropes in that fight? Once? Oscar initiated more punching exchanges while countering Mosley’s forward momentum. Edge: Even

3. Defense: Clearly Oscar had the better defense. He made Shane miss and he made him pay with sharp jabs and straight right hands. He moved around the ring very well neutralizing Mosley’s aggressiveness. Oscar had little trouble finding the mark. Edge: Delahoya.

4. Ring generalship: The easiest category to score in this fight. Oscar fought his fight and built an early points lead. He controlled the ring center and fought his fight. Shane appeared very frustrated at times. Edge: Delahoya.

Result: Oscar dominated the fight in 3 of the 4 scoring categories including the most important one; he landed the most punches.

I scored the fight 7-5 (115-113) Delahoya. He deserved the decision.

Official Decision: Judge Duane Ford 115-113 Mosley, Judge Stanley Christodoulou 115-113 Mosley, and Anek Hontongkam 115-113 Mosley.