THE American promoter of Manny Pacquiao believes Oscar de la Hoya erred in hiring legendary Mexican promoter Ignacio ?Nacho? Beristain. The Harvard-educated Bob Arum affirmed to the BusinessMirror on Wednesday morning that everything will go Pacquiao?s way once he and de la Hoya meet atop the ring on December 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
?Nacho Beristain will serve only one purpose, and that is to screw up Oscar. Nacho is a control freak and when he has a fighter from the beginning, like on of the Marquez brothers, he?s a terrific trainer,? said Arum. ?If he?s gonna try to impose his style on Oscar who is not a quick learner, all Nacho?s gonna do is screw him up.
Wait till you see. Oscar?s gonna change his style and it?s not going to work.?
Beristain is credited for honing the skills of hundreds of Mexicans fighters, more than a dozen of them became world champions, that include Ricardo Lopez, the Marquez brothers Juan Manuel and Rafael, Daniel Zaragoza and Humberto Gonzalez.
?I?m really confident, I?m not just saying this. I?m very confident that Manny will win this fight and win it by a late-round stoppage,? said Arum in the interview which was also aired over Sports Radio?s Sports Chat.
Arum revealed he talked with one of de la Hoya?s trusted men at the Golden Boy Promotions and learned that the Mexican-American superstar is just a pound over the welterweight limit.
?Richard Schaefer just told me the other day he weighed 148 pounds. They asked him to cut back on his training because he was already getting too light. So I don?t think the weight is going to be an issue for Oscar,? added Arum.
In a separate telephone interview recently with the BusinessMirror from their Big Bear camp in California, Beristain said there will be no major attempts to change de la Hoya?s style as the revered Mexican trainer believes the Mexican-American poster boy?s edge in power will be enough to avert the Filipino?s aim at boxing immortality.
?It?s easy for me. Very normal for me in training him as it?s more of polishing or shaping a diamond. That?s what it is right now. Technically he won?t change because he has his style as a fighter,? added Beristain.
Beristain in the same interview scoffed at Pacquiao?s intention to remain in the welterweight division after his brawl with de la Hoya.
?After what will happen on December 6, Manny Pacquiao will be more than willing to move down to 135 or 130 because he is going to get a tremendous beating,? Beristain said.
Meantime, Arum said there will probably no other Filipino fighter who will see action beneath the De La Hoya-Pacquiao battle.
Initially, world bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa was slated to see action beneath the December 6 card. The astute American promoter, however, said that Puerto Rican sensation Juan Manuel Lopez has agreed to stake his world super bantamweight crown against Penalosa sometime in February. Arum said it will be a ?poor planning? to let Penalosa fight Lopez on December 6 and that the Filipino will surely get lost in the furor over the Dela Hoya-Pacquiao bout.
?If Juan Manuel Lopez is successful on December 6, he?ll be scheduled to fight on an HBO card in February and on that card he has already agreed to defend against Penalosa,? said Arum. ?So that will be a card where Penalosa will be one of the big attractions. I was on the telephone today with Peter Rivera (Lopez? promoter) and he agreed. You have to understand, when you build an undercard you want to draw from different ethnic and geographical groups. I don?t expect really to see another Filipino on the televised undercard.?
