Oscar De La Hoya vs. Carl Griffith, 11/18/1994
Oscar De La Hoya made the third successful defense of his WBO Lightweight title and moved to 15-0 with 14 knockouts stopping Carl Griffith in the third round of their scheduled twelve round fight. The bout took place on the undercard of the big pay-per-view fight between Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney on November 18th, 1994 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
De La Hoya was coming off two relatively quick knockout wins after he won his first world title belt stopping Jimmi Bredahl in round ten that prior March. In De La Hoya's last fight in July he impressively knocked out former world champion Jorge Paez in the second round.
Griffith, who entered the fight with De La Hoya with a record of 28-3-2 with 12 knockouts, was known as a tough solid fighter who had 150 amateur fights and some solid wins on his resume. He possessed a good left jab and had never been knocked out as a pro. As a matter of fact, he only went down once and that was in his fight against Roger Mayweather in July of 1993.
From the opening bell, De La Hoya's hand speed and punching power overwhelmed Griffith. About half way thru the first round, De La Hoya stunned Griffith with a flush right hand. Later in the round, a solid left hook from De La Hoya put Griffith on the canvas.
Griffith attempted to get his jab working in round two but whenever he threw it was met with quick hard counters from De La Hoya. Towards the end of the round, Griffith was visibly hurt by a vicious left hook that landed on his liver. Though he managed to stay on his feet, the end seemed near.
And that end came relatively quickly in the third round. De La Hoya landed a monstrous highlight reel half left hook half uppercut that put Griffith down on the canvas for the second time in the fight. Tough as nails, Griffith made it to his feet. Though De La Hoya landed nothing of substance in the follow up, Griffith looked badly shaken and referee Mitch Halpern decided to waive off the bout.
This was a very impressive performance by De La Hoya and one in which he showcased all his talents that had many in the sport thinking he'd be a future star. The future looked very bright for Oscar as his very successful 1994 campaign came to an end with this dazzling performance.