Oscar De La Hoya vs. Miguel Ángel González, billed as For Pride and Country, was a professional boxing match contested on January 18, 1997 for the WBC super lightweight title.
Background In June 1996, Oscar De La Hoya had secured arguably his biggest victory at that point in his career, defeating Julio César Chávez easily by fourth-round technical knockout, capturing the WBC super lightweight title and making him a three-division world champion.De La Hoya Stops Bloodied Chavez in Four, N.Y. Times article, 1996-06-08, Retrieved on 2024-12-23 Three weeks after the Chávez, it was announced that De La Hoya would make the first and, subsequently only, defense of his newly won title against undefeated former WBC lightweight Miguel Ángel González.De La Hoya to Fight Gonzalez, N.Y. Times article, 1996-06-26, Retrieved on 2024-12-23 Originally scheduled to take place on October 12, 1996, the fight was postponed when De La Hoya was diagnosed with tendinitis in his left rotator cuff. De La Hoya, who had been struggling with shoulder pain since his fight with Genaro Hernández a year prior, decided against fighting through the pain with help from a cortisone shot and entered would undergo six weeks of therapy before resuming training. The postponement lead to the cancellation of the planned January 18, 1997 rematch between De La Hoya and Julio César Chávez. Chávez had been scheduled to appear on the undercard of the De La Hoya–González fight, facing Joey Gamache in what was to be a tune-up before the planned rematch with De La Hoya.De La Hoya Fight Is Postponed, L.A. Times article, 1996-09-18, Retrieved on 2024-12-26 A month after the postponement, the De La Hoya–González fight was officially rescheduled to take place the following year on January 18th, the same day as when the De La Hoya–Chávez rematch had originally been scheduled.De La Hoya to Return, N.Y. Times article, 1996-11-16, Retrieved on 2024-12-26
Only a month before the fight, De La Hoya had agreed to move up in weight to challenge the reigning WBC welterweight champion Pernell Whitaker, meaning that his fight with González would be the only defense of his super lightweight title and his final fight in the division.De La Hoya-Whitaker in Works, N.Y. Times article, 1996-12-05, Retrieved on 2024-12-26 Though González sported a perfect 41–0 record, he was looked upon as a mere afterthought as De La Hoya looked forward to his super fight with Whitaker and was installed as a heavy 6–1 underdog. However, González's new trainer, Emmanuel Steward insisted that González had a chance to win should he be able to survive the first four rounds.De La Hoya Bout Could Be a Rout, L.A. Times article, 1997-01-18, Retrieved on 2024-12-26
The Fight For only the second time in his career to that point, De La Hoya was taken the full 12-round distance. Despite failing to score a knockdown in the fight, De La Hoya was extremely accurate offensively during the fight, landing 361 punches out of 561 thrown for an impressive 64% success rate, while González outthrew De La Hoya, he landed over 100 less punches (251 out of 751) for a 34% success rate, though he did manage to land a right hand to De La Hoya's left eye that left it badly bruised and nearly swollen shut by the end of the fight. Nevertheless, all three judges had De La Hoya comfortably ahead, with scores of 117–111, 117–110 and 117–109, giving De La Hoya the third unanimous decision victory of his career. González had two points deducted during the fight; one in the seventh round for an illegal rabbit punch and one in the 12th for hitting De La Hoya during a break.High Marks for De La Hoya, L.A. Times article, 1997-01-19 Retrieved on 2024-12-28
Fight card Confirmed bouts: Weight Class Weight vs. Method Round NotesSuper Lightweight140 lbs.Oscar De La Hoya (c)def.Miguel Ángel GonzálezKO12/12Light Flyweight108 lbs.Mauricio Pastrana def.Michael Carbajal (c)SD12/12Super Lightweight140 lbs.Kostya Tszyuvs.Leonardo MasNC1/12Super Lightweight140 lbs.Stevie Johnstondef.Jose Luis BaltazarUD10/10Cruiserweight190 lbs.Vassiliy Jirovdef.Vincent BrownTKO2/6Super Featherweight140 lbs.Floyd Mayweather Jr.def.Jerry CooperTKO1/6Heavyweight200+ lbs.Eric Eschdef.Curt AllanTKO3/4Welterweight147 lbs.Daniel Santosdef.Reynaldo RamirezKO3/4
Broadcasting Country Broadcaster Channel 7 HBO
References