All I can say is, what a great Saturday! The soccer field at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California was the host of the Oscar De La Hoya/Steve Forbes extravaganza, Homecoming. Easily the biggest fight I have ever covered or seen live, I am still excited about having been one of the more than 27,000 in attendance.

Oscar closes in on Steve. Linda Peterson photo

Not surprising that there was a lot of pomp and circumstance going on, and I’ll admit I eat that stuff up. I loved the Mariachi band, Mariachi Sol del Mexico, as they played and sang the national anthem of Mexico, and also played Oscar to the ring. Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls sang the anthem for the United States.

Forbes came out to the song “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics. Along with his training camp, Jeff Wald, executive producer of The Contender also accompanied him to the ring. As a side note, it seemed to take FOREVER for the men to make it to the ring. Not unusual I know, but even watching it on TV it seemed to take a really long time. And then it was Michael Buffer’s turn, as he said those famous words, “Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Now, I really didn’t want Oscar to lose this fight, but I definitely wanted Forbes to make a good showing, and would not have cried if Stevie ended up winning. In fact, fellow journalist and photographer Linda Peterson and I were definitely in the minority with that thought process. In the middle of all of the “Oscar, Oscar” chants, my “Go, Stevie” was, shall I say, a bit out of place.

I had never seen Oscar fight before – nope, not even his fight with Floyd Mayweather on television. And while he later admitted to ring rust, what a quick, yet smooth, cat-like athlete he is, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him work. I got to see him use his arsenal of combinations and jabs, as well as that gift of being able to avoid being hit too often.

Oscar gets Forbes on the ropes. Linda Peterson photo

In the end De La Hoya won the unanimous decision, winning all but one round on two cards, and all rounds on the third. But wait; did the fight go as he had wanted it to? By his own admission, no. And the reason for that was a man named Steve Forbes. In his 11-year career, Forbes has never been knocked down let alone out, and wasn’t about to let that happen on this night. He took Oscar’s punches and then threw his own, over and over again. De La Hoya later said “I am a little disappointed that I didn’t get the knockout. Forbes has all my respect.”

When I spoke with Forbes’ manager after the fight, he told me that Steve was now going to fight at 140, and would be a champion at that weight. He was pleased with this fight though, pointing out that Oscar’s face proved that Forbes did more than just shadowbox.

At the post-fight interview, which took place in what was left of the ring, after thanking Golden Boy and Oscar for what he called “the opportunity of a lifetime,” Steve said “I left my heart and soul out here and I tried my best. I told you guys I wasn’t going to run and I didn’t.

“I’ll most definitely be back. I gained a lot of experience. My weight is 140 and you’ll see me as World Champion, I promise you.”

De La Hoya’s punches did not go unnoticed. “I got stung a couple of times,” Stevie said. “He can punch!” With regard to Oscar’s jab, Forbes replied that it was more of an issue than he thought it would be. “It was strong. I was able to see it lots of times, but the jab was a problem.”

As for the victor, he was quick to comment on Forbes. “Stevie Forbes is one tough customer. He has a lot of skills, a lot of maturity. I said this was going to be a tough fight. If I had fallen for that trap (referring to using this fight for a tune-up) he would have beat me; he would have beat me.”

Oscar did get hurt in one of the earlier rounds during the fight. “I could have used my jab a lot more, but I hit him (Steve) on the top of the head and hurt my hand. My left hand is swollen and we’re going to go check it out. I had to keep throwing those stiff jabs, because if I didn’t Steve Forbes was coming on.”

It was asked of Oscar what it was like to fight in this venue. His response might surprise some people. “I must admit, I was a bit distracted. Sometimes between rounds I’d look around and go ‘Wow!’”

But the main theme running through the evening was the re-match between De La Hoya and Mayweather. “I never looked past Stevie Forbes, but at the same time I wanted to work on things, like get on my toes more, and challenge my conditioning.” Oscar has been known to run out of gas in the later rounds, and felt that this time he stayed sharp for all 12 rounds.

“This is the way that I wanted the fight to be,” he said. “I was able to use my jab. I was aggressive and I was much stronger in this fight. This is the same style that I know I can beat Mayweather. This time it’s personal. I’m gonna beat him, you just watch.”

Let me remind everyone that as of now that fight has not been signed. I would make book that it will be, but that hasn’t happened yet.

In the order that they occurred, I must also mention the undercard that we got to see. In the first fight, an eight round Lightweight fight, Wes Ferguson (18-3-1, 5 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Miguel Munguia (16-12-1, 13 KOs) with scores of 78-73, 78-73, and 79-72. Ferguson had to go the distance, even though he knocked down Munguia in the second round.

The second fight of the night had Freddie Curiel facing Sven Paris in an eight-round Junior Middleweight match. Curiel went down in the second and it looked as if the fight could be over, but he came back strong. This was an exciting fight to watch with a lot of action. In the end, Paris was given the win by split decision. Two judges had Paris 78-73 and 76-75, while Curiel won on one card with a score of 78-73. Freddie is now (18-7-2, 8 KOs), while Sven improves to (24-3, 16 KOs).

The next fight saw Hector Sanchez (13-0, 5 KOs)  remain undefeated in his four-round Welterweight fight against Arthur Brambila (9-13, 4 KOs). Sanchez won by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight the same 40-36.

Daniel Jacobs kept two streaks alive. In this effort against Jose Pena, he was able to keep both his undefeated and knockout streak unblemished. Even though this Super Middleweight fight was scheduled for four rounds, if you blinked you might have missed it. In only 53 seconds of the first round, referee Jose Cobian stopped the fight – and this was after Pena hit the canvas for the second time! Jacobs is now (6-0 6 KOs) and Pena drops to (2-3-1, 2 KOs).

Danny Garcia on his way to his sixth victory. Linda Peterson photo

Danny Garcia came into his six-round Welterweight fight with the same record as Jacobs. Garcia had never been past two rounds, so I must hand it to Julio Gamboa (26-13-2 16 KOs). He took Danny the distance. But Garcia also rose to that challenge, and in the end he also remained undefeated. All three judges scored the same, 60-54 for Garcia, who is now (6-0, 5 KOs).

The fight that came right before the main event had Victor Ortiz (21-1-1, 16 KOs) emerge victorious again Dairo Esales (31-13, 25 KOs). There were bodies hitting the deck a lot during this fight, as there were four knockdowns. Both men  were down in the third, and Esales was dropped again in the fourth. The fifth round saw Ortiz once again put Dairo down, and referee Cobian stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:31 of round five.

In all, I cannot say enough about this experience. I can’t wait for the opportunity to attend many more fights and be able to report my views and thoughts back to you.

Congratulations to Oscar De La Hoya for his victory, as well as all of the other fighters who were able to get their wins.

Finally, I must acknowledge and thank a couple of people; “Sugar” Ray Leonard for his considerations, and the time he has been willing to spend talking with me in spite of his crazy schedule, and to Emily Snider for all of her hard work – thank you both!

Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.