Oscar De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes, billed as Homecoming, was a professional boxing match contested on May 3, 2008.

Homecoming

Date	May 3, 2008
Venue	Home Depot Center, Carson, California, U.S.
Tale of the tape
Boxer Oscar De La Hoya Steve Forbes Nickname The Golden Boy 2Pound Hometown East Los Angeles, California, U.S. Portland, Oregon, U.S. Pre-fight record 38–5 (30 KO) 33–5 (9 KO) Age 35 years, 2 months 31 years, 2 months Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) 5 ft 7+1⁄2 in (171 cm) Weight 150 lb (68 kg) 150 lb (68 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBC/WBO No. 1 Ranked Light Middleweight The Ring No. 3 Ranked Light Middleweight 6-divison world champion Former IBF super featherweight champion
Result
De La Hoya wins via unanimous decision (120–108, 119–109, 119–109)

Background

Oscar De La Hoya, having lost his previous fight to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5, 2007, announced his return in February 2008 to boxing in what would prove to be a year-long absence to face Steve Forbes on May 3, 2008, a former IBF super featherweight champion who had recently appeared on the ESPN reality show The Contender. The bout was looked upon as a mere tune-up for De La Hoya prior to facing Mayweather Jr. in a planned rematch later that year in September.

De La Hoya once gain employed Mayweather's estranged father Floyd Mayweather Sr., who had previously trained him from 2000 to 2006, as his trainer after opting to hire Freddie Roach for his fight against Floyd Jr. to avoid the perceived conflict of having his opponent's father train him and also refusing to pay the elder Mayweather's demanded $2 million salary, though De La Hoya announced his intentions to keep Mayweather Sr. as his trainer for not only the Forbes fight but for his planned rematch with Mayweather Jr. as well. Adding further drama, Forbes initially employed Roger Mayweather, Floyd Sr.'s younger brother and Mayweather Jr.'s uncle and current trainer to train him for the De La Hoya fight. However, when Floyd Jr. threatened to fire Roger should he continue working with Forbes, which in turn caused Forbes to fire Roger and replace him with Jeff Mayweather, the youngest brother of Floyd Sr. and Roger. Jeff himself had been beaten by De La Hoya in 1993.

The Fight

De La Hoya served as the aggressor from the opening round on, as he would win in extremely lopsided fashion. De La Hoya threw 810 punches, landing 253 of them, which was over 100 more than Forbes, who landed only 152. De La Hoya constantly pressed the action, stalking Forbes and landing consistent combinations to Forbes body and head. Though De La Hoya bloodied Forbes' nose, he was unable to score a knockdown and the fight went the full 12-round distance, though De La Hoya would nearly complete a sweep of Forbes on all three scorecards, winning all 12 rounds on one (120–108) and all but one round on the other two (119–107).

Aftermath

The victory would prove to be the final one of De La Hoya's professional career.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:

Weight Class	Weight		vs.		Method	Round	Notes
Catchweight	150 lbs.	Oscar De La Hoya	def.	Steve Forbes	UD	12/12
Welterweight	147 lbs.	Victor Ortiz	def.	Dairo Esalas	KO	5/10
Super Welterweight	154 lbs.	Sven Paris	def.	Freddy Curiel	SD	8/8
Lightweight	135 lbs.	Wes Ferguson	def.	Miguel Angel Munguia	UD	8/8
Welterweight	147 lbs.	Danny Garcia	def.	Julio Gamboa	UD	6/6
Super Lightweight	140 lbs.	Hector Sanchez	def.	Arthur Brambila	UD	4/4
Super Middleweight	168 lbs.	Daniel Jacobs	def.	Jose Pena	TKO	1/4

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO