Floyd Mayweather Jr. wins split decision over Oscar De La Hoya

LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr. wanted to give Oscar De La Hoya a beating. He had to settle for just getting a win.\nMayweather won one of boxing’s richest fights ever Saturday night by using his superb defensive skills and superior speed to take a 12-round split decision and win the WBC 154-pound title in his first fight at that weight.\nThe fight was billed as one that would save boxing, and while it didn’t do that, it was an entertaining battle between two proud champions who both fought hard from the opening bell through the end of the final round.\nThe fight ended with the sellout crowd on its feet roaring and the two fighters trading punches wildly at the final bell. They then stopped and embraced each other.\nMayweather was favored on one scorecard 116-112 and 115-113 on a second. De La Hoya was ahead 115-113 on the third scorecard. The Associated Press had Mayweather winning 116-112.\n“It was easy work for me,” Mayweather said. “He was rough and tough, but he couldn’t beat the best.”\nIn the end, Mayweather was simply faster and more slippery in a bout where neither fighter managed to hurt the other and neither went down.\nStill, De La Hoya did enough to impress at least one judge and thought he did enough to win the fight.\n“I landed the harder, crisper punches,” De La Hoya said. “I felt when I landed my punches I could see I was hurting him. If I hadn’t pressed the fight, there would be no fight.”\nMayweather’s estranged father also thought De La Hoya did enough to win.\n“I thought Oscar won the fight on points, threw more punches and was more aggressive,” said Floyd Mayweather Sr., who used to train De La Hoya. “My son had good defense and caught a lot of his punches, but I still thought Oscar pressed enough to win the fight.”\nRingside punching stats heavily favored Mayweather, crediting him with landing 207 of 481 punches to 122 of 587 for De La Hoya. Mayweather also landed more power punches than De La Hoya, outscoring him 138-82.\nMayweather said before the fight that De La Hoya would fade as the fight went on, and it seemed as though he did. Two judges gave Mayweather four of the last five rounds, making the difference in what turned out to be a closely scored fight.\nThe sellout crowd of 16,200 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena cheered everything De La Hoya did, and booed when the decision was announced. It was the third loss in the last five fights for De La Hoya, who also served as the promoter for the bout.\nDe La Hoya was the aggressor throughout the fight, and he managed to get through Mayweather’s defenses in the early rounds as Mayweather moved away and counterpunched without great effect. Every time Mayweather went near the ropes, De La Hoya tried to trap him there and land a flurry of punches to the body and head.\nDe La Hoya wanted to get Mayweather into a brawl, but he was having no part of it, content to pick his spots and land counterpunches. In the fifth round, however, the fight seemed to shift into a different gear as Mayweather stood his ground and landed some hard combinations to the head.\n“He’s getting tired. He’s getting tired,” Mayweather’s trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather, told his fighter after the round.\nIt was a night of ebb and flow, with both boxers fighting in flurries and both having their moments. The pro-De La Hoya crowd roared loudly anytime he threw a big punch, while Mayweather smiled at his opponent every time De La Hoya landed a punch that got any reaction from his fans.