It could have been a part of the script, but Freddie Roach?s statements during Saturday?s press conference in San Francisco still got under Oscar De La Hoya?s skin.
“I found this toy gun,” Roach said, standing on the podium in the direction of De La Hoya, who was seated on his right in front of the Bay Area media. “But I can?t pull the trigger. It must be yours.”
That must have struck a nerve on De La Hoya, who had been described by Roach as somebody who “can no longer pull the trigger” as the traveling circus for the much-awaited welterweight war scheduled Dec. 6 enters the homestretch with a gig near the Golden Gate, undoubtedly California?s most recognizable landmarks.
Roach has trained Manny Pacquiao for the last seven years and the 48-year-old Boston-bred cornerman is convinced his pet puncher still has a lot of ammo left besides more than being trigger-happy.
It was the “can?t pull the trigger” remark that prompted De La Hoya to pick Pacquiao as his opponent and the never-ending ribbing from fight fans has made him more determined to prove that he can still do it, telling Pacquiao and Roach that he will show them how before an expected boisterous crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
What made it even more painful was the fact that De La Hoya once signed up Roach for a mega-fight in 2007 that De La Hoya lost to Floyd Mayweather.
It was this eight-week training camp with De La Hoya that Roach spent in Puerto Rico that persuaded him to think that the 35-year-old native of East Los Angeles is going downhill as he saw signs fading fighters exhibited while in training.
And De La Hoya?s lackluster showing against another small guy ? the light-hitting Steve Forbes last May ? that further enhanced Roach?s observation that Pacquiao can polish off the Golden Boy.
Pacquiao will spend the evening in San Francisco for a fundraiser then will head back to Los Angeles to resume training at the Wild Card in Hollywood.
The final stop of the six-city tour will take place in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
After that, Pacquiao will begin heavy training, while De La Hoya will do the same thing as he will drive up to Big Bear, a mountain resort two hours outside Los Angeles that is 7,000 feet above sea level, for two months of isolation.
