LOS ANGELES ? What happened Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was what exactly Manny Pacquiao had envisioned as early as three months ago when Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) were in the dotting the Is and crossing the Ts of 2008?s biggest ring battle.
“I had thought that the fight would end that way. That?s what I had imagined,” said Pacquiao on Sunday afternoon as he was travelling from Sin City to Hollywood.
Pacquiao was so perfect in his execution of the gameplan that De La Hoya looked as though he was not a six-division, 10-time world champion.
“He couldn?t get away from my punches because I studied him well.”
The eight-round stoppage Pacquiao scored at the MGM Grand was so easy the soon-to-be 30-year-old southpaw from General Santos City had a rougher time during his sparring sessions at the Wild Card Boxing Club in the run-up to the De La Hoya fight dubbed as “The Dream Match.”
“I did what I perfected in training. I displayed lots of head and body movement to get him out of his rhythm and I bobbed and wove so he couldn?t throw his jab because if you just stay in front of him, he?ll hit you with it at will.”
Because he was moving all the time, De La Hoya was so befuddled that Pacquiao peppered him with left leads and rights to the body and head that by the time his cornermen told the referee to stop the fight after the eighth round, the 35-year-old?s face appeared as though it had been whacked by a baseball bat.
HBO blow-by-blow expert Jim Lampley said in the telecast that De La Hoya was “cringing in the face of an unstoppable onslaught,” while HBO fight analyst Emanuel Steward snorted that “he (De La Hoya) doesn?t know what to do.”
“De La Hoya was like a wilting candlestick,” Pacquiao said, telling himself as he was walking back to his corner after the first round that he already had De La Hoya?s number that early in the bout.
Afterwards, he got a call from President Gloria Arroyo and received one from the last fighter he mauled prior to the De La Hoya fight.
“Who are you? You?re unbelievable. You?re too fast. Are you human?” asked David Diaz, who Pacquiao knocked out in eight rounds last June.
The De La Hoya destruction was Pacquiao?s third fight this year after he had crowned himself as World Boxing Council super-featherweight king by carving out a split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez in March and flattening Diaz in June.
“This (year) was really great, having conquered three weight classes in one year. Nobody has done this before, one year, three divisions,” said Pacquiao, who hosted a party for his friends at his apartment at The Palazzo in La Brea shortly after his arrival there from Sin City.
Despite all his accomplishments, Pacquiao said his strong religious belief is what gave him the strength in overcoming adversity.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao leaves for the Philippines on Monday night on board Philippine Airlines and he is expected to arrive in Manila at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
A ticker tape parade will be held in honor of Pacquiao?s memorable performance.
