OSCAR De La Hoya’s announcement, that his heart beats for Manny Pacquiao, deserves thankful applause.
This could also mean we’ve properly invested our hopes and prayers.
The vote should help boost the confidence of Pacquiao, reported to be peaking perfectly at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood for his March 19 encounter with Mexican icon Erik Morales.
It’s actually incredible. Why, in the first place, would a legendary warrior, an astute boxer, go against his fellow Mexicans who’ll again show up in full force at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas next month to wave the Mexican flag and rally behind Morales?
What De La Hoya had declared could be close to sedition, if there’s such an offense in boxing.
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Of course, coming all the way from the camp of the Golden Boy, that’s a piece of great news for Filipino boxing fans.
But hold it. There’s a little problem here.
If you did not notice, De La Hoya failed to explain why he picked Pacquiao over Morales.
All De La Hoya, a former world champion in six divisions, blurted was, “I like Pacquiao.”
If he was proposing to a beautiful lady, that would be fine.
No need to offer a bunch of roses. No need to elaborate.
The infatuation would have been perfectly expressed.
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But this is boxing. You don’t just jump into conclusions. You don’t cross party lines with no valid reason.
Naturally, I had to ask our trusted boxing correspondent, Salven Lagumbay, if De La Hoya had bothered to explain his vote.
Negative. It was all Hoya had said, as reported in Boxingtalk website chat line.
Problem is we could not force De La Hoya to elaborate.
I’m, therefore, counting that pro-Pacquiao vote invalid.
***
I could reconsider.
If De La Hoya returns to the website and explains that Pacquiao is younger, stronger, faster, tougher, I’d try to evaluate.
National pride is involved here and we should take caution not to get blinded.
Anyway, looking closely, it’s easy to suspect Hoya’s pro-Pacquiao sentiment was based on the Barrera Factor.
Yes, Marco Antonio Barrera who, after having conquered the comic, overrated Prince Naseem Hamed, last year dethroned countryman Erik Morales as world super featherweight king.
De La Hoya obviously feels that, instead of a possible Morales-Barrera IV, a Pacquiao-Barrera rematch would be a sure best-seller.
Hoya’s Golden Boy outfit handles Barrera and Oscar was surely eyeing a windfall in pushing for a Pacquiao win come March 19.
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Anyway, here at home, there’s this swelling sentiment that Morales would prove no match against Pacquiao.
And, mind you, this is not being fueled by what trainer Freddie Roach had said that Morales, 28, is both old and weary.
No, as the fight nears, the masa continues to swear that Pacquiao would prove strong and superior to Morales.
It’s like this. Morales was beaten by Barrera. Pacquiao, on the other hand, had stopped Barrera. So how could Morales be any better than Pacquiao, who had beaten Morales’ conqueror?
That’s the equation, the mantra, chanted daily by my fish vendor friends in the next village where I buy our table needs seven days a week.
As simple as that, malinaw pa sa mineral water, they insist.
***
That could also be the same reason why Pacquiao was promptly installed the favorite in the Las Vegas booking lines.
Morales lost to Barrera on points, while Pacquiao had beaten Barrera by knockout.
There’s always the overwhelming Barrera Factor.
Well, at least, unlike Oscar De La Hoya, my sun-beaten friends in the fish market have based their infatuation on something tangible.
The problem, I hate to say, is that it won’t be as simple as that come fight time.
Honestly, I’ve to rate the fight even.
Morales, the classic boxer, is better seasoned and definitely more skillful.
Pacquiao, born fighter, has the bigger punch that could stop his next opponent.
The winner must be able to surpass himself.
