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Philippines, 23 Nov 2024 |
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DE LA HOYA OPENS TRAINING CAMP TO THE MEDIA (WITH PHOTOS) By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Thu, 13 Nov 2008  Big Bear City, CA:- After keeping mum for many weeks and refusing to allow the media to snoop around at his training camp, the Golden Boy Oscar de la Hoya and his Team finally allowed the media to come and visit. On top of that he even provided a free ride to and from the Los Angeles area to this winter resort city high up the San Bernardino mountain ranges, 2 ? hours away. And, just to spice up the trip, Golden Boy even provided lunch at the Hacienda Grill at Bear City, a noted Mexican joint in these mountains. Golden Boy?s action without doubt is pure class! De la Hoya?s training camp site called Summit Camp is located in a large two floor building. The training staff has sleeping quarters upstairs. ODLH slept in another location. The ground floor is where the gym was located. It is modest but extremely well equipped. The ring is far better than the many I see in gyms around Los Angeles. The general area where the camp site is located is picturesque and the air is pure. In fact, the first snow fall of the season fell last Sunday night and some of it is still visible in some of the mountain ranges. Oh, least I forget, it was cold. Fifty eight (58) degrees centigrade cold. But we were indoors, so it was actually just fine. Until we stepped outdoors at around 4 PM to go back to the bus. All told, with the privacy and the quiet atmosphere the camp offers, it is a perfect place for de la Hoya to train for the ?Dream Match?. There were about 125 media people that visited the training camp. With that, it was naturally a little bit difficult to move around and take photos. It really took a lot of ingenuity to do so. But thanks to the Golden Boy staff, everything went well. The predominant media people there were understandably Latinos. The Pinoys were represented by PhilBoxing (Dong Secuya and myself), Joseph Pimentel pinch hitting for GMA, the pretty Janelle So of LA?s TV 18 Kababayan, LA, and free lance photographer Romeo Balboa. In restrospect, I wished they set the media day another way. Like putting de la Hoya in front podium with a microphone for the interview part of the media day so that everyone can hear what he had to say. After that he could simply go to the equipment and do his thing for the video and still photographers. As it was, not all heard what he said in reply to the questions asked. However, eavesdropping around, we heard de la Hoya say that he is staying away from all the yummy Mexican food and was on a certain diet meant to keep his weight in control without affecting his speed and power. De la Hoya according to his buddy Eric Gomez weigh-in about 145-146 today and is feeling really good. When asked about Roach?s comments about ?speed? which is the main asset of Pacquiao, de la hoya responded:- ?Speed is fine but more than that, accuracy is more important?. De la Hoya did a couple of minutes of playful sparring with comedian George Lopez. To some, Lopez? presence was good entertainment. In fact that is exactly what the media got when de la Hoya and him playfully sparred ending with Lopez getting ?knocked-down? with a body shot. But to others, it was what they call in the magic profession as a ?distraction?. It would have been better if Oscar did the mitts with Nacho. That would have been more meaningful. A pundit made a comment about Oscar keeping his shirt on during the duration of the whole press con which we also observed. Thus the media did not get to see his body shape and perhaps visually assess his condition. One visible item we saw was a right side ?black-eye?. Sparring must have been hard. De la Hoya also did a three minute session with the speed bag and then spent the same time with the double speed bag. After that, he went back to the ring for more questions and answers. The media event lasted about 4 hours. It was good while it lasted. The trip back home was quiet. Everyone was tired and most took the opportunity to take a cat nap. Oscar de la Hoya doing the speed bag routine Wednesday afternoon during the open media workout at his Big Bear training camp. 
Over a hundred mediamen came to Big Bear for the De La Hoya open media workout. 
Joel de la Hoya (L) with legendary trainer Angelo Dundee. 
Oscar shadow boxing. 
Oscar hitting the doubled-ended bag. 
Oscar (R) gives actor George Lopez a straight left to the body during a mock sparring session. 
Filipina journalist Janelle So (C) interviews trainer Nacho Beristain (L) as De La Hoya's brother Joel acts as an interpreter. 
De La Hoya bluish under his right eye. 'Sparring must have been hard." Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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