By DYAN CASTILLEJO-GARCIA

Sports Unlimited’s in depth De la Hoya – Mayweather post fight special was as anticipated as the match itself. If you missed the fights, here you will read the best parts. If you saw the fight, this is what happened before and after boxing history’s legendary matchups.

When the Oscar De la Hoya – Floyd Mayweather fight was announced late last year, everyone knew it was going to be a big fight. If you were in Las Vegas during the week, you would know it was a mega fight everybody was talking about. A 12 City tour to announce the battle was done plus four weekends of 24/7 reality programming on HBO. It showed the behind the scenes of Oscar and Floyd preparing for the fight.

Tons of people even non boxing fans were all excited about the “Mayo Cinco” bout in Vegas. For Filipinos it was an honor to have two Pinoys in the card Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and the up and coming AJ Banal fighting in the undercards.

Two huge ballrooms at the MGM Grand Hotel were turned into the media center. Over a thousand mediamen came from television, radio, online and print came to experience what turned out to see two of the biggest names in boxing clashing for the WBC Superwelterweight Belt. Live radio programs were going daily, computer stations were busy all day. The MGM lobby got busier as the day drew closer.

Fight souvenirs were a hit. The first day I got there De la Hoya and Mayweather did the traditional walk-in to the MGM lobby. They set up a small ring at the lobby center and that’s where the boxing star walked up to for 15 minutes while everyone crowded and pushed their way just to get a shot or autograph.

It was even crazier when De la Hoya walked in. It was clear the “Golden Boy” was the crowd favorite. He could barely move an inch. Mostly females were screaming at their idol.

But the 10-time world champion in six-weight divisions had male fans as well. For more than 15 years, De la Hoya and Mayweather stomped their class in boxing. And fans wanted to see the clash. A record-breaking 7,000 people came to watch the weigh-in, the most number for any boxing event. People lined up for hours waiting for the gates to open since it was free. For those who could not get tickets to the fight, this was the next best thing.

The stage was star-studded: Sugar Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, Roberto Duran, and Juan Manuel Marquez. The arena was sold out. A record-breaking 16,700 fans at an average of $2,000++.

Another 25,000 fans bought $50-tickets to see the fight in a big screen at a restaurant or sports bars of a hotel in Vegas. Pay-per-view numbers across America also hit 2.15 million, the highest-ever in boxing history. All in all, the fight is expected to gross over $100 million in revenue. Oh yeah, one more thing, from where I sat in the RD row, I could see Jack Nicholson, Eva Longora, Mario Lopez, Jim Carrey, Leonardo Di Caprio and more!

And after all the slugging, the result after 12 rounds a split decision to Floyd Mayweather. Many did not agree but some did. Others thought it should have been a draw. In the early rounds, it was clear De la Hoya was the aggressor. The strategy was to take advantage of the Golden Boy’s size and overpower the undefeated “Pretty Boy.”

Many times De la Hoya would pin Floyd to the ropes and let go repeated punches to the body. There were many. Once I counted nine in a row to the body. But as many saw, they did not really hurt Mayweather. Mayweather’s corner was content with moving around and letting De la Hoya go at him, believing he would tire out in the later rounds.

De la Hoya was using his signature jab but admitted later on it was not working as much as he had hoped to. Mayweather was his usual sleek self. Moving in and out and connecting intermittently, but did not engage in a fight as De la Hoya hoped. The judges scored only 122 landed punches for De la Hoya against Floyd’s 187 which many questioned. They also had Floyd leading in the power punches department. But De la Hoya held the belt. I felt Mayweather had to do more convincing to take the belt which is usually the case when fighting to take the title away. Oscar lost the later rounds, but he came back in the 12th and I believe that he did enough to stay aggressive.

After the fight, I went back to the locker room area to try and speak to both fighters. I bumped into world champion Sugar Shane Mosley who was De la Hoya's main sparring partner training for this fight.

Floyd's uncle and coach said he never had a doubt his nephew would come out the victor and it was clear Floyd Jr. was the winner. Another controversial figure in this fight, was Floyd's father, Floyd Sr. He was de la Hoya's former coach, I got to speak to him backstage, he felt Oscar should have been declared the winner.

I waited almost 45 minutes for both fighters to get changed. Floyd Jr. had a colorful suit while Golden Boy De La Hoya was all dressed in his business suit before he went out to the press conference.

Meantime, Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista waited for this moment for a long time. The 20-year-old spent one month long in Los Angeles and another month in Puerto Rico training in the same gym as Oscar De la Hoya. He was raring to get up on the ring to face Sergio Rocky Medina of Argentina, who like him, was undefeated with 28 wins coming into this fight.

I met up with Rocky Medina as he arrived in Vegas. He was exhausted from a 16-hour flight from Argentina, but like Boom Boom, there was no other way to go all out and win his first bout outside Argentina.

Being included in the TV fight of the De la Hoya- Mayweather ‘Mayo a-cinco’ bout was a huge, huge break for both Boom Boom and Rocky. Two million homes subscribed to the fight and they were not disappointed as both were nothing less than warriors on the ring.

Boom Boom dominated the early rounds. Medina seemed to be fatigued early on. The Pinoy was pouncing from the onset and scored a knockdown on the 6th round. Medina stood up immediately claiming it was a slip. The Argentine came back in the next round. He barraged the Pinoy who managed to hold on to the ropes, but it was called a knockdown by the referee. The Pinoy was hurt, but his courage carried him through. At the 11th round, another crucial knockdown. This more or less sealed the fight. Boom Boom will go on to face Daniel Ponce de Leon of Mexico for the WBO Super Bantamweight Belt. I talked to Boom Boom after the fight as he recalled the sensational win.

AJ Banal fight did not appear on television, but it was another proud moment for the Pinoy as he battled Alberto "El Topo" Rosas from Mexico. Rosas was a fighter from the Marco Antonio Barrera stable. Boxing fans were treated to good exchanges from both fighters. The Golden Boy Promotions Group is very impressed with Banal and has high hopes for the 18 year-old.

The ALA Boxing Group of Tony Aldeguer has much to be proud of. Their boys fought gallantly. And if they continue on the right road, should have a bright future in the sport.