Oscar De La Hoya has only been knocked out once in his 44 career fights. Manny Pacquiao has been knocked out twice in his 52 fights.
So when De La Hoya and Pacquiao meet on Saturday night, the odds seem stacked against a knockout.
But De La Hoya says a knockout is precisely what’s going to happen.
“This type of fight, at this stage of my career, I’m so hungry for a knockout,” De La Hoya said on HBO’s De La Hoya-Pacquiao 24/7. “That’s why I’m working as hard as I am. My style and his style, sooner or alter, we’re going to clash. Knockout. There will be a knockout.”
Pacquiao’s camp seems to have the same mindset. Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, told me in October that he believes Pacquiao will knock De La Hoya out.
So how’s it going to happen? I don’t think either De La Hoya or Pacquiao has the kind of punching power to deliver a one-punch knockout, but I like Pacquiao to do just what Roach said he’ll do: Chop De La Hoya down over the course of the fight and finish him in the late rounds.
We’ll have a Pacquiao-De La Hoya live blog on Saturday night here at FanHouse.
