SONAHR: March 23, 2015 – As the clock ticks toward the May 2 Fight of the Century between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., a look back at the fight that launched Pacman into the rarefied atmosphere of superstardom is of interest. That breakthrough bout was his showdown with Oscar ?Golden Boy? De La Hoya back on December 6, 2008.
At the time, Pacquiao was rising fast, having ripped the WBC lightweight title away from David Diaz. De La Hoya was clearly on the downside of his career, but he was still the biggest attraction in the sport, and a bout with him guaranteed a huge payday.
The most intriguing aspect of the matchup was the size difference. Pacquiao was a lightweight who had begun his career as a light-flyweight. De La Hoya was a junior-middleweight who started as a junior-lightweight. The bout was to be contested at the 147-pound limit ? halfway between the weight classes in which the contestants normally fought.
Even though De La Hoya had not fought at welterweight for years, he would still hold a significant size advantage over Pacman. And, leading up to the contest, most experts believed that size would indeed matter in this instance, regardless of whatever toll the rigors of boiling down from 154 to 147 pounds might exact on De La Hoya?s strength and stamina.
In a special preview feature on De La Hoya-Pacquiao in its December 2008 edition, The Ring magazine asked 20 boxing experts to pick the winner. The panel included fighters David Diaz, Andre Berto and Paulie Malingnaggi, writers Steve Farhood and Dan Rafael, and trainers Jim Strickland and Enzo Calzaghe. Of the 20 experts, a whopping 18 agreed with the conventional wisdom, which held that Pacquiao had bitten off more than he could chew, and the Golden Boy would win either by knockout or comfortable decision. Only two went for the Pacman.
One of the two dissenters was Strickland, the trainer of Diaz. Strickland thought Pacquiao would win by decision. Diaz disagreed with his mentor, saying that Oscar would ?easily beat Manny by decision.?
So, who was the other panelist who picked Pacquiao? None other than Timothy Bradley, who was then WBC junior-welterweight champion and later fought Pacquiao twice, winning the first bout in 2012 and losing the rematch in 2014. In 2008 Bradley opined: ?De La Hoya isn?t what he used to be. Pacquiao won?t be the stronger fighter, but I think Pacquiao will win by decision.?
As it turned out, Bradley and Strickland were half-right. Pacquiao won, but not by decision. Instead, he swarmed all over De la Hoya, forcing an end to the contest ? and Oscar?s career ? in the eighth round. Yes, De La Hoya?s weight drain did affect his performance. But at that time Pacquiao was a force of nature, and he could have beaten De La Hoya even when the Golden Boy was at his best.
So now, seven years after he steamrolled the hapless De La Hoya, Pacquiao is on the brink of biggest fight of his career, against his pound-for-pound rival Mayweather. The difference is that Pacquiao was an undersized underdog when he fought De La Hoya. Against Mayweather, it?s a pick ?em fight. Whichever man wins, the result will not be an upset. One thing is certain: Both Pacquiao and Mayweather have a helluva lot more left in 2015 than De La Hoya had in 2008. And that will make for a fight that should live up to its hype-hop.
