CompuBox - Every Punch Counts

From Oscar de la Hoya’s standpoint, Saturday night’s fight with Steve Forbes was intended to achieve three things. The first was to get back on the winning track, which he did by near shutout unanimous decision (120-108 and 119-109 twice). The second was to further confirm his drawing power, which he mostly did by attracting more than 27,000 to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. And, finally, to give boxing fans and observers reason to think that a September rematch with pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather would turn out any differently. While he didn’t get the spectacular knockout he craved, he did apply the lessons he learned from the first fight against a smaller, less talented version of "The Pretty Boy."

The biggest criticism was the absence of the jab in the late rounds, and against Forbes it was the dominant weapon. He threw 34 jabs per round, the highest average since launching 39 per round against Fernando Vargas nearly four years earlier. De La Hoya achieved double-digit connects in eight of the 12 rounds en route to averaging 11 per round while also limiting Forbes’ effectiveness. Despite throwing 64 more jabs (470-406) Forbes landed less than half of the rate (15 percent to De La Hoya’s 31). The jab gulf was widest in the 10th when De La Hoya out-connected Forbes 13-2.

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On May 22, 1993 Roy Jones used his gifts of speed and improvisation to capture a 116-112 decision (3x) over Bernard Hopkins and with it the vacant IBF middleweight title. In doing so, Jones landed 206 of his 594 punches, including 49 percent of his 357 power shots.

It would be nearly 15 years before another opponent would enjoy such offensive success against "The Executioner," who in his later years had developed a sophisticated defensive shield that not only limited his foes’ success but also their willingness to test it. But on Saturday longtime super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe, another creative speed-oriented ring master, eventually solved the riddle and won Hopkins’ Ring Magazine light heavyweight belt by landing 232 blows, breaking Jones’ record by 26. The split decision that should have been unanimous was perhaps the crowning moment of Calzaghe’s career because he soundly defeated his most celebrated opponent in that opponent’s home country – the United States.

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CompuBox at Ringside
4/12/08 - Atlantic City, NJ
Miguel Cotto KO 6 Alfonso Gomez
Round-by-Round Stats

Most boxing observers expected Saturday night’s match between WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and "Contender" alum Alfonso Gomez to be a glorified sparring session, and one can certainly make that case considering the ease with which Cotto hammered Gomez into a sixth round corner retirement. The numbers were reflective of just how overpowering the pound-for-pound entrant was on Saturday night.

Cotto landed 188 of his 369 punches (51 percent) while Gomez connected on 63 of his 316 attempts (20 percent), which meant that the Puerto Rican star averaged 21 more connects per round – or seven more per minute. The power connect figures showed similar dominance as Cotto landed 125 of 213 for an extraordinary 59 percent connect rate while Gomez was 46 of 143 (32 percent). In the final three rounds Cotto out-landed Gomez by a withering 91-23 in power shots and by a sickening 129-29 overall. In rounds three and four, Cotto landed 70 and 71 percent of his power shots while Gomez steadily descended from his round two peak of 48 percent (15 of 31) to post power percentages of 34, 24 and 20.

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