OSCAR De La Hoya may have been stung by Freddie Roach?s now-famous can?t-pull-the-trigger remark, but the Golden Boy?s animosity towards Manny Pacquiao stretches back to one winter day in December 2006 when the Filipino fighter dumped him in favor of Top Rank big boss Bob Arum.
It?s obvious that De La Hoya was pained by Roach, who has described him as somebody who can no longer pull the trigger.
But it was Pacquiao?s decision to stick it out with Arum ? and junk Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) as his promoter ? that fueled De La Hoya?s fire, an episode in his colorful life career that he plans to use as motivation for their Dec. 6 bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It was widely publicized that De La Hoya had welcomed Pacquiao at LAX Airport in the third week of September in 2006 following a flight from the Philippines then had dinner with him a couple of hours later to formalize his acquisition.
Pacquiao was supposed to have late dinner with his Los Angeles-based friends at Denny?s but the fighter sneaked out on board his Lincoln Navigator with a few companions for a meeting with De La Hoya in a Beverly Hills steakhouse.
The following day at the Wild Card, De La Hoya showed up to check out Pacquiao, who was training at that time for the rubber match with Erik Morales.
De La Hoya even granted a brief interview and declined to say that he had signed up Pacquiao to a seven-fight contract but it leaked out shortly.
Arum then was on the offensive, telling the media that Pacquiao is not allowed to forge a deal with anyone until after the Morales bout that took place on Nov. 18.
A little over a month after Pacquiao beat Morales for the second time in late-December, Arum and Pacquiao held a press conference at The Manila Hotel to announce that they had reached an accord. (This writer even arranged the hastily-called press conference upon the request of Pacquiao).
Interviewed by Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times following the last press stop of the promo tour at Whittier Boulevard in East LA, Roach said Pacquiao and De La Hoya don?t like each other.
“There is some bad blood, that?s why Oscar wants to fight him. Manny doesn?t like Oscar either. In the Philippines, it?s a slap in the face to be sued. They may be acting like gentlemen up there, but there?s a lot of dislike and motivation here.”
When asked to comment, De La Hoya did not deny the rancor that has developed.
“This is very personal. Manny talks about honor, how it?s so important to him. How honorable is he? When he looked into my eyes and shook my hand that we had a deal, and then leaves me because someone will pay him more?how honorable is that?” said De La Hoya.
“It?s OK. I?m going to get mine December 6th,” added De La Hoya, who is just a 2-1 favorite.
