It?s being billed as the Dream Match, a fight fan’s, hypothetically. A fight which has been spoken of in boxing forums all over cyberspace, and quite possibly, in sports bars all over the world, now and for years to come.
It?s a fight you see kids programming into their latest Play Station 3 fight game, and It?s a fight you just couldn?t see coming.
Oscar de la Hoya is the most famous, active fighter in the world today. Manny Pacquiao is the number one, pound for pound fighter in the world today, therefore this fight is a tremendous business opportunity for all the players involved. The fight game is all about making money and you really can’t get a bigger fight than this. This is quite simply, a massive fight that everyone will watch, a fight the sport needs right now.
When Oscar de la Hoya laced them up to fight Stevie Forbes in May of this year, we all said, why? The point is, Oscar still made a lot of money, said all the right things, sold out the joint, and put on an impressive [still got it] performance.
Almost a year to the day, before that, he took on the challenge of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and fought in the richest prize fight in the history of the sport. Again , he put on a good display, said the right things and made a whole lotta lolly on the night. Do you see the pattern happening here?
Since winning the only gold medal in the 1992 American Olympic team in Barcelona, he has won numerous world title belts, in six different weight divisions, and he has always been master of his own destiny. In 2005, he formed his own boxing promotions company and took on the experienced and some say cunning ?old school? promoters in Bob Arum?s ?Top Rank? and Don King ?s Promotions. He was now, not only a boxer, but a negotiator, a matchmaker, a ?break even? promoter. De la Hoya knew the business well but now he was swimming with sharks.
Manny Pacquiao never won any gold medals, no big purses, and he had to play the fight game anyway he could, just to survive his first 24 prize fights.
He traveled to Thailand to challenge the WBC flyweight champion, Chatchai Sasakul, and knocked him out to win his first world title, in 1998. Even as a world champion, outside of the Philippines, he was an unknown fighter.
As Pacquiao was preparing to fight the Australian fighter, Todd Makelim, Oscar de la Hoya was making millions, fighting the legendary fighter, Julio Cesar Chavez , at welterweight, in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao continued to battle on until 2001, when he took up the challenge of the South African IBF super bantamweight champion, Lehlohonolo Ledwaba at late notice, on the undercard to De la Hoya?s less than exciting win over junior middleweight champion, Javier Castillejo, and fought well enough to take the South African?s heart and his title. This was the chance he had been waiting for and training for all those years.
De La Hoya and Pacquiao would go about their business. Both men were household names in their respective countries, and both men would fight in their own level of mega fights, each man winning more world titles, making millions and as time progressed, each man learned the business of boxing.
Swimming with sharks was becoming second nature to both of them.
THE FIGHT
A lot has been said about this fight thus far. The weight issue, the reach, the height, the gloves. The age old argument of ?a good big man will always beat a good little man.? I?m from the old school, it?s what you have inside. If you have heart, and the will to win, then you have a chance.
The first question you have to ask is, why is De la Hoya fighting Pacquiao? Easy. He thinks it’s the best option of him winning, and beating the pound for pound fighter in the world, right now. De la Hoya has made a career out of fighting fighters he thought he could beat. Jorge Paez, Rafael Ruelas, Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker, Derrell Coley, Xavier Castillejo, Fernando Vargas, Yori Boy Campas, Felix Sturm, Ricardo Mayorga, and Stevie Forbes. As I said, he knows the business of boxing, and everything he does is calculated. He thinks he can beat Pacquiao.
If you look at it, he has every advantage, albeit, speed. He has the better chin, he has fight experience, he has a great jab and left hook, and will be fighting with 8 oz. gloves. We all know he has all the physical advantages in height, weight and reach, and he is tough. Is this why so many people are saying it’s a mismatch?
I really don?t see it quite as one-sided as that. Pacquiao is fighting De la Hoya for the big payday. You can’t blame him for that.
I do believe he feels he can win. Freddie Roach will be telling him everyday, all day that De la Hoya ? can?t pull the trigger anymore? and that the right hand is gone forever. I?m not so sure about that. What I am convinced of, is, De la Hoya is considerably slower than Pacquiao, and that could be a major problem for ?The Golden Boy.?
In Pacquiao?s last fight with David Diaz, Diaz had no choice but to take the punches he took. I feel Oscar would have beaten Diaz , just as handily.
To win, he has to fight in the same aggressive, non-stop punching way, moving at angles, countering with blistering combinations all night long. Oscar will get tired. He stopped throwing punches in the Mayweather fight. Pacquiao has to be first and try to take his legs away. If he can, he will win by late TKO.
Obviously, Oscar won’t take this fight lightly. He is back at Big bear training camp, and this is the first time since 2001, while training for Arturo Gatti. [De la Hoya destroyed Gatti at 147]. He has renowned trainer Ignacio Beristain and the former world champion Daniel Zaragoza in to give him tips on southpaws. [Zaragoza was a southpaw].
For me, De la Hoya will not only want to beat Pacquiao, but he will want to stop him with the straight right hand, [possibly to the body, just to prove a point to Roach]. I also feel, he will chase Pacquiao, use the jab and try to stop him early. Manny has been stopped twice in the third round, [once by a left hook to the jaw, and once to the body].
Pacquiao by late stoppage TKO.
Gary Todd is the author of the international, best selling book on boxing?s greatest champions, ?Workouts from boxing’s greatest champs? and he has been involved in all aspects in the sport of boxing for over twenty five years. Look out for his follow up, volume II, workouts?. out soon. He is also a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
