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| Date | June 14, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC welterweight title | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| De La Hoya wins via 2nd-round knockout | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Oscar De La Hoya vs. David Kamau , billed as Oscar Night at the Dome, was a professional boxing match contested on June 14, 1997 for the WBC welterweight title. [2]
In his previous fight on April 12, 1997, Oscar De La Hoya had scored arguably his biggest victory over the number-two ranked pound-for-pound fighter Pernell Whitaker by unanimous decision, capturing Whitaker's WBC welterweight title and becoming a four-division world champion at only 24-years old. [3] Whitaker, who felt he had clearly won the fight, and his promoter Dino Duva pursued a rematch with De La Hoya, offering him $12 million plus a percentage of the pay-per-view revenue, but De La Hoya's promoter Bob Arum declined the offer, as De La Hoya was already signed to face David Kamau at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas in June, followed by Héctor Camacho in September. [4]
Prior to facing Kamau, De La Hoya, dissatisfied with his performance against his prior two opponents, Whitaker and Miguel Ángel González, dismissed his defensive-minded trainer Jesus Rivero and hired the highly regarded Emanuel Steward, known to implement a more offense orientated style of boxing, as his new trainer in early May. Steward expressed excitement on getting to work with De La Hoya stating "Oscar is the one I’ve been dreaming about. I’ve been watching him for a long time, and I’ve known he was special. Oscar has more natural talent than anyone I’ve ever worked with. But I never in a million years thought I would be working with him." [5] After going the full 12-round distance in consecutive fights, De La Hoya openly stated that he was looking for a knockout victory stating "I'll be happy with a knockout. My last couple of opponents thought I had no power because I wasn't getting any knockouts. I was losing respect from my opponents, and that gets them more confident." Largely unknown, Kamau came into the fight as a heavy underdog, though he nevertheless expressed confidence "I don't step into a ring to lose. I am a strong fighter, and I know I can punch. Whatever it's going to take, that is what I'm going to do." [6]
De La Hoya took a more cautious, tentative approach during the first round as Kamau served as the aggressor during the round, with De La Hoya constantly retreating, dodging Kamau's punches and effectively using his jab and counter-punching when Kamau approached. However, in the second, De La Hoya aggressively attacked Kamau, and sent him down to the canvas after landing a left hook. Kamau was able to answer the referee's 10-count and continued the fight, shaking off the knockdown as he continued to trade punches with De La Hoya until De La Hoya stunned Kamau with a left hook and sent him down again with a multi-punch combination. Clearly hurt from the exchange, Kamau remained on his knees, unable to get back up, as he was counted out, giving De La Hoya the victory by knockout at 2:54 of the round. [7]
Confirmed bouts: [8]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Oscar De La Hoya (c) | def. | David Kamau | KO | 2/12 | note 1 |
| Super Featherweight | 130 lbs. | Genaro Hernández (c) | def. | Anatoly Alexandrov | SD | 12/12 | note 2 |
| Super Lightweight | 140 lbs. | Jesse James Leija | def. | Jose Rodriguez | UD | 8/8 | |
| Lightweight | 135 lbs. | Floyd Mayweather Jr. | def. | Larry O'Shields | UD | 6/6 | |
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Mikhail Krivolapov | def. | Guadalupe Rodriguez | TKO | 4/6 | |
| Super Flyweight | 115 lbs. | Eric Morel | def. | Armando Diaz | UD | 4/4 | |
| Super Lightweight | 140 lbs. | Arturo Ramos | def. | Raul Zavala | KO | 1/4 |
^Note 1 For WBC Welterweight title
^Note 2 For WBC Super Featherweight title
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United States | HBO |