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Munroe: dedication

Plenty of champions get bored or take time off and relax, but Oscar still has the hunger of a young fighter coming up through the ranks.

Glenn McCrory
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I thought Oscar de la Hoya turned in an excellent performance against Steve Forbes.

This was a guy at the tail-end of his career, having won world titles at six different weights, against a guy who has never been stopped or put down, a good competitor and who was perfectly primed to upset the odds.

But what we got was a dominant display from de la Hoya throughout. He worked really, really hard, his concentration was good, his jab excellent, he put his punches together.

Okay, he was a bit marked up at the end, but no sparring can prepare your face for being hit and all in all, I thought it was a fantastic performance from the Golden Boy.

Of course, it is all about that rematch with Floyd Mayweather, but if Oscar or any of his camp had written a script for the Forbes fight, it wouldn't have been far off what actually happened. Maybe they would've wanted a stoppage late on, but they picked a durable opponent who made him work hard and they got rounds in.

You have to take your hat off to him for that, though. He has been the best fighter of our generation - and one of the best of any other generation come to that - and is still a great competitor. Most of us, be we contender or champion, crave some time in the limelight at least, but Oscar has had it for his entire career, ever since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

He's been at the very top of the game all the time, under more scrutiny than most of us can imagine, but he still has that hunger. It maybe because of that that he is still so self-critical and he knows he made a slight error of judgement and slipped off a little in the first fight with Mayweather - and wants to put that right.

I (like many people) happen to think he won that, but he seems to have realised that he needs to work harder. And when you consider the length and level he has been fighting at, that is amazing. Plenty of champions get bored or take time off and relax, but Oscar still has the hunger of a young fighter coming up through the ranks.

Acumen

Another factor that our old friend the Pretty Boy needs to take into account is that Oscar just does not like him. Usually he is calm and collected and we all know about his business acumen, but this seems to be a little more personal. Oscar has a Mexican heritage, where family values are strong, and he will not have liked the way Mayweather went about his business.

So what better way to wind him up this time than have Mayweather Senior back in the corner? Deep down I think both think they can beat Floyd and it will certainly get under his skin. If my dad was plotting my downfall, I wouldn't even get in the ring, I can tell you that for nothing!

Everything Oscar is doing is geared up to that September rematch. In recent fights I think he has looked a lot sharper than he perhaps should, and while he is not going to beat Mayweather with a performance like Saturday night's, he wasn't fighting Mayweather. Forbes has been trained by the same people, he turns the shoulder the same way as Floyd and he has fast hands. It was perfect preparation.

I throw what little money have around as much as I chuck out bad predictions, but if I was a betting man, I would have a few bob on Oscar winning that next one as well. Mayweather is brilliant, don't get me wrong, but I think he has run out of challenges.

De la Hoya wouldn't even be going anywhere near a rematch if he didn't think he could win it. His legacy is already assured, he has nothing more to achieve, but he thinks, believes and has set his mind on beating Mayweather.

At the other end of the career scale we had another fabulous Friday night in the life of the Battling Binman, Rendall Munroe. There were fantastic scenes in Nottingham as he overcame an odd, but awkward opponent, Salem Bouaita.

Nightmares

The Frenchman does not have the best record, but he is just the sort of fighter that can give you nightmares. And I'll tell you what, Rendall struggled at the start. We were ringside and someone had seen the cards and realised that the judges were seeing a different fight, he was falling foul of the ref and for a while, it looked like his reign as European champion might be coming to an end.

But his corner started screaming at him and fair play to Rendall he buckled down, worked the other guy out and got a thoroughly deserved win. He was trying to match Bouaita's wide, wild hooks, when all he needed to do was go straight down the middle. The quickest way from A to B is in a straight line and he suddenly started landing with the straights.

He also upped the tempo which, a bit like Oscar, is all down to his hard work and dedication. This is a lad that gets up at 5am, goes for a run, does a hard, hard bin round and then drives 40-odd miles to train in the evenings. It's so nice to see someone still doing it the right way because a lot of fighters nowadays don't think you have to get up early to do the roadwork.

Well, I've got news for them: you don't do it because it's easy, you do it because it's hard. Your body is not awake, it is stiff and it hurts more, but believe me, when it's time to haul yourself up off your stool for the 10th or 11th round of a gruelling title fight, you are used to.

And besides, as Rendall will testify, there's less chance of being run over on the roads at that time of day, because it's only the binmen that are out! Rendall Munroe should serve an inspiration to every young fighter. He works hard and is totally dedicated and because of that he is the sort of fighter that could well go up a level and rise to occasion.

And it couldn't happen to a nicer guy either. You saw everyone dressed in their yellow binmen jackets at ringside and it was a cracking atmosphere generated by a popular guy. Myself and Adam Smith have already been measured up for ours and will wear them next time we cover Rendall... but only if he comes into the ring in a wheelie bin!