MANILA, Philippines ? Eight years ago today, Manny Pacquiao did what the whole world thought then was unthinkable ? beat the crap out of Oscar de la Hoya and send the aging American world champ’s behind to retirement.
As far-fetched as it was to see Pacquiao challenge de la Hoya in a welterweight fight on the night of December 6, 2008 (December 7, Manila time), one person suggested the proposition wasn’t really that absurd ? broadcaster extraordinaire and apparent sage Larry Merchant.
ESPN.com boxing reporter Dan Rafael shared a blog post he wrote in October 2007 which breaks down a discussion between him and Merchant about de la Hoya’s comeback plans.
De la Hoya at that point was determined to return to the ring after losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via split decision four months prior in June 2007. But who would the Golden Boy fight?
So Rafael and Merchant spit out a laundry list of candidates familiar to Pacquiao fans such as Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Shane Mosley before Merchant made his case for Pacquiao.
“First, once upon a time, it wasn’t unusual for outstanding champions to fight way over their best weight to make money,” Merchant told Rafael, after which he cites several compelling examples.
Pacquiao had never ventured north of 140 pounds in his career prior to de la Hoya, a natural welterweight whom the up-and-coming Filipino fighter would have to face at 147 pounds but who had fought at higher weight classes for quite some time.
Rafael added: “Merchant pointed to the fact that on the night Pacquiao fought Marco Antonio Barrera in their October 6 [2007] rematch, Pacquiao weighed 144 pounds, 24 hours after weighing in at 130 pounds.”
Merchant told Rafael: “Pacquiao would be in his prime, Oscar way past his trying to make a weight he hasn’t made in (almost) a decade.”
Merchant also gets into the marketing side of it a bit, the Freddie Roach connection with de la Hoya, and some bad blood between de la Hoya’s and Bob Arum’s rival promotions over signing up Pacquiao.
Rafael said he phoned Arum to gauge his interest over a Pacquiao-de la Hoya fight.
“We’ll take it,” Arum told Rafael. “I don’t even have to call Manny. I am sure he would accept the challenge without question.”
De la Hoya fought one more time ? Steve Forbes in May 2008 ? before he and Pacquiao got it on. Pacquiao beat de la Hoya so badly de la Hoya’s corner threw the towel before the ninth round began shocking the world and shaking up the order of things in boxing.
If Pacquiao’s victory over Barrera in 2005 put Pacquiao on the radar, his resounding triumph over de la Hoya put him on the global sporting map.
It was reported that Pacquiao-de la Hoya, which garnered 1.25 million pay-per-view buys, was only the fourth non-heavyweight bout to breach the one-million mark.
Merchant said in October 2007: “In the spectrum of the kind of fights you could have, it’s a fun event. Manny is shorter, but he’s a left-handed puncher. Oscar would be the clear favorite to win and Manny would be the underdog, but all of their fans would have to watch it. It’s about creating an event. That’s an event.”
