Freddie Roach was in no trivial mood when he said that at 35, Oscar de la Hoya can?t pull the trigger anymore.
He further stressed his point in the latest leg of the De la Hoya-Manny Pacquiao promo tour in San Francisco Saturday.
?I found this toy gun,? Roach said, handing it to De La Hoya on the stage at Fort Mason with the Golden Gate Bridge as backdrop. ?But I can?t pull the trigger. It must be yours.?
The latest Roach tirade on his former ward drew a smile from Pacquiao but not from De la Hoya, who earlier vowed to knock out the Filipino pound-for-pound champion in their keenly-awaited fight on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Roach handled De la Hoya in his May 2007 setback to Floyd Mayweather Jr. when the Golden Boy could not ?pull the trigger? against a smaller, faster opponent.
However, unlike Mayweather, who hid through the early rounds against De la Hoya, Pacquiao is expected to slug it out with the 10-time world champion in the early going.
?I dream about it every night,? said De la Hoya, who enjoys a four-inch height advantage over Pacquiao. ?Let?s make it a fight. Which, I?m sure, he (Pacquiao) will. There?s no backing down in Manny.?
The Golden Boy, with a 39-5 record, including 30 knockouts, is tipped to climb the ring for the 147-pound fight at about 160.
?He is a legend in boxing, and it is my honor to fight him,? said Pacquiao, who has never fought above 134 lbs. (47-3-2, 35). ?It?s a big test for me.?
Meanwhile, the historic six-city tour promoting the ?Dream Match? continued to draw large crowds with a media frenzy accentuating public interest in the fight.
After a highly successful launch at the Statue of Liberty in New York and another crowded stop in Chicago where even former WBC lightweight champion David Diaz who was demolished by Pacquiao in nine rounds made an appearance, the two boxing superstars and their entourage also had a successful stop in Houston, Texas.
In Houston, De la Hoya, looking at Pacquiao, said: ?I will knock you out on Dec. 6. I?m telling you this because I want you to remember The Alamo.?
Pacquiao, in his usual cool and unruffled manner, merely smiled it off.
But Roach took the cudgels for his prized fighter in Frisco.
