On Thursday, it was announced that superstars Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao will square off in a welterweight bout on December 6 in Las Vegas. Hullabaloo from the boxing world ensued immediately following the announcement.
De La Hoya, who has announced that the December 6 bout will be his last, has been the subject of copious criticism from fans and pundits alike.
Many say that he’s taking the easy way out of what has been an illustrious career by fighting a much smaller man.
Many say that he should have instead chosen to fight welterweight big men Antonio Margarito or Paul Williams.
And many say that De La Hoya is more interested in making money ? which he’ll rack in a lot of by fighting the wildly popular Pacquiao ? than giving the fans what they want.
False, false, and false.
De La Hoya isn’t a businessman who wants an easy farewell bout; he’s a business, man, who understands the importance of putting both himself and Pacquiao on a platform that will be seen by the entire world.
Hands down, Pacquiao is the most exciting fighter in the world. But because he’s yet to square off with another household name, the general sporting public knows little of him.
By facing De La Hoya, Pacquiao will step onto the biggest forum in boxing. Millions and millions of people will be watching the tenacious Filipino in action. De La Hoya, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, boxing’s most powerful promotional company, realizes the benefit of casual fans seeing Pacquiao in action ? three rounds into his fights and new viewers are hooked. New boxing fans means new paying customers for De La Hoya’s company.
Of course, De La Hoya is more concerned with winning than creating an exciting fight. And according to many critics, De La Hoya should have no problem blasting the smaller Pacquiao into submission. I’ll set the record straight: that theory is ludicrous. Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s current trainer who also worked with De La Hoya within the past two years, has stated repeatedly that he believes Pacquiao could beat De La Hoya at 147 pounds. Roach has far more fight knowledge than any of these so-called “experts” who believe Pacquaio will crumble under De La Hoya’s stronger blows.
And even if Pacquiao stood no chance of winning, De La Hoya should not be under scrutiny for choosing a soft last opponent. “The Golden Boy” has spent his entire career fighting the very best; he deserves to go out on his terms. But thankfully, that’s not the case. Pacquaio should provide a stern test for De La Hoya, and even hardcore fans will be curious to see if Pacquiao can carry his power to 147 pounds.
If you ask me, De La Hoya made the perfect choice of opponent.
