Why Oscar Must Face Margarito
Published by on July 29th, 2008

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By Scoop Malinowski

“This fight is very special for me. Win or lose this is going to be one of the greatest fights. If I were to lose I wouldn’t be frustrated. Even if I lose I’m going to be very proud of this. I will not lose easy. I will give my life for this fight.” Those were the words of Julio Cesar Chavez in 1996 before his first loss to Oscar De La Hoya. Obviously, by the number of times he used the word “lose” in that single paragraph, you could tell Chavez knew, deep down, the truth – that he was probably going to be defeated by the magnificent young Golden Boy.

But Chavez is not an adored and beloved sportsman to this day just because he was a great fighter. Fearlessly, Chavez faced his much younger, bigger, stronger rival and ultimately accepted his beating, and passed the torch on to De La Hoya. It was a symbolic transition of one aging legendary Mexican champion honorably anointing and endorsing his deserving successor. I am no longer the champion I was but since you conquered me in the manner you did, you are worthy of carrying on the tradition of our special legacy.

Oscar De La Hoya has been a tremendous credit to the sport of boxing. He has succeeded and surpassed his predecessor with his own unique style and greatness. It has been a wonderful career with so many highlight moments of excitement and magic. And now the time has come where De La Hoya is at the point where Julio Cesar Chavez was in 1996. It is near the conclusion of a fantastic career for Oscar De La Hoya. And the next new Mexican iconic superstar has presented himself: Antonio Margarito.

The time has arrived where De La Hoya must do the honorable and noble thing. He must face his younger, stronger Mexican rival, so as to pass the torch. And anoint and endorse Antonio Margarito as the next new superstar, just like his idol Chavez once did.

Oscar will not beat Margarito. But that is not the purpose of making this fight. This event would be the special spectacle of one iconic legend bravely facing the inevitable moment where his career must end. At this moment Oscar is not totally the revered champion by the Mexican community that he should be, as he admitted many years ago (in quotes that appeared in the book “Golden Boy” by Tim Kawakami). “I’d say, I’m going to quit because the fans don’t love me here. But after a while I got over it. It’s not everyone. I would say now it’s probably like two percent of the people here in East LA who don’t like me. Everywhere I go those two percent follow me. What can I do? I can’t do anything. I thought I was doing everything perfect, representing East LA. To this day they announce me as being from East Los Angeles and still the two percent don’t respect me. If I get cut up and bruised up and knocked out, then they’ll respect me…I’ll go anywhere in the world and I’ll guarantee you they love me. Anywhere except east LA, and it’ll never change. Never, never. I know it won’t. There’s always going to be that jealousy, always.”

Over the years, fortunately, that strange perception has changed. The way Oscar has performed with class and honor in his great career has earned him worldwide respect and admiration. He is one of the most important figures in the history of the sport. I was in Miami for the Mayweather press conference last January, and it was awe-inspiring how loud and passionate the ovation was from the loving Latinos at the open air event on Biscayne Bay. I will never forget how Mayweather looked up in wonder at the awesome reception Oscar got. Mayweather has never heard applause anything close to it. And he never will either. Ricardo Mayorga was also there that afternoon, sitting on Oscar’s side. And Mayorga and Oscar, acknowledged each other from a distance with friendly smiles and winks.

But back to business. My point is Julio Cesar Chavez would never have avoided a passing the torch fight with Oscar at the end of his career, in preference to make a meaningless circus exhibition with Michael Carbajal or Naseem Hamed. It was inherently understood by Chavez that he must face De La Hoya for the natural progression of the sport.

Oscar De La Hoya has to understand that he must face Antonio Margarito. He is obligated to, by the sport that has given him fame and fortune. The time has arrived where Oscar must pass the torch to Antonio Margarito.

Whichever choice the Golden Man makes, he will still be respected and admired. For his courage, bravery, fearlessness, honor, grace, nobility, longevity, inspiration. Deep down in his heart Oscar has to know which is the right and which is the wrong decision.

And so will the sporting public.

Contact Scoop: mrbiofile@aol.com