Oscar De La Hoya is not listening to people who belittle Manny Pacquiao?s chances against the Golden Boy on Dec. 6.
These days, whenever De La Hoya thinks about the Filipino idol, he sees not a puny fighter who stands at least three inches shorter than him, but somebody who can make up for his lack of size with a pair of hammers for hands.
“I don?t want to fall into a trap,” De La Hoya said as quoted over the weekend by his boyhood friend Eric Gomez, who is vice president for Golden Boy Promotion (GBP), owned by De La Hoya.
“Oscar?s not taking this fight for granted and he is training very well in Big Bear. He knows that this is going to be a dangerous fight and he considers Manny Pacquiao as one of the best southpaws of all time,” said Gomez.
To show that he?s serious about his fight with Pacquiao, De La Hoya opted to remain in Big Bear and miss Saturday night?s big fight between Bernard Hopkins and Kelly Pavlik in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hopkins won the fight.
Hopkins is a partner with GBP and De La Hoya?s decision to just watch the fight on pay-per-view is proof that the 35-year-old puncher means business.
Hopkins? shocking victory over Pavlik, who is also under Top Rank like Pacquiao, “has inspired Oscar for the Pacquiao fight.”
Meanwhile, De La Hoya, according to Gomez, has began sparring with super-lightweight prospect Victor “Vicious” Ortiz, a 21-year-old southpaw from Oxnard.
“Victor is the chief sparring partner but we also have two other guys and plan to get two more soon,” said Gomez.
“Oscar?s eating well and training hard and he?s about 150 lbs right now,” said Gomez, who reveals that De La Hoya wakes up at 5:30 a.m. for his morning jog.
Taking a close watch in his training is newly-recruited trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, who vows to come up with a strategy that will neutralize Pacquiao?s vaunted speed.
