The first three rounds will be the danger zone for Manny Pacquiao, who faces Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“After the first three rounds, Manny will be okay and I expect it to be a hard battle but Manny will still win,” said Rodrigo Salud, former secretary general of the World Boxing Council.
Salud believes that De La Hoya, indeed, can no longer pull the trigger.
“That was a great description (made by Freddie Roach) on De La Hoya,” said Salud, who expects the Pacquiao-De La Hoya welterweight war to be decided in the last few rounds. “The accumulation of punches will wear De La Hoya down. I see the fight ending in the ninth, tenth, 11th and 12th rounds.”
De La Hoya, who turns 36 in February, has been unimpressive in his last two fights?against Floyd Mayweather and Steve Forbes?a sign that his level of performance had slipped dramatically.
“Manny Pacquiao is on top of his game while the other is on the decline.”
Still, Salud is not saying the Pacquiao has better skills than De La Hoya overall but it is my opinion that he has “fading skills and his talent is receding.”
Based on his last two bouts, “De La Hoya?s timing is off and he can no longer connect as he used to,” according to Salud, who spends most of his free time watching and studying current fights but also those from yesteryears.
“I saw this with Sugar Ray Robinson, with Flash Elorde and with Roy Jones,” said Salud.
So confident is Salud of a Pacquiao victory that he is willing to put on a wager “just to prove my point.”
Salud actually talked with Pacquiao during the 73rd birthday of close friend Rod Nazario, Pacquiao?s former business manager, at the Highlands Steak House in the Mall of Asia on Friday night and reminded him of not putting on too much weight.
“I told Manny not to put on so much weight because he might get slow,” said Salud, who expects Pacquiao to tip the scales not more than 145 lbs during the official weighin and not more than 150 lbs by the time he answers the bell.
Pacquiao responded positively to Salud?s advice and the fact that he is leaving for the US tonight to begin training camp is an indication that he is dead-serious in scoring an earth-shaking win.
“Besides, Manny has an incredible will to win,” added Salud.
