Oscar De La Hoya says the fire is back in his belly as he prepares to face Manny Pacquiao.
The ‘Golden Boy’ drops down to welterweight for the first time in eight years for the big showdown in Las Vegas on December 6.
And to prepare he’s set up camp at his Big Bear retreat for the first time since 2004.
Add in the fact De La Hoya also has a new trainer in Nacho Beristain, and it’s all change for ‘The Golden Boy’. Change he feels is bringing positive results.
He said: “It’s actually great training with Nacho Beristain and being up here in Big Bear, it’s once again ignited that fire in my belly, which hasn’t burned in many years. So I’m ready to go. I’ve been weighing 145 pounds now for the last three weeks.
“The weight is no problem. I feel strong. I do have to admit that I – in the first couple of days that I did make the weight or I tried making weight, about a month ago, I did feel a little light-headed and weak, but now that I have gotten used to it and now that weeks have passed by, I feel strong and fast and very comfortable with welterweight. And I’m even thinking of going back down to 140 after this fight, so we’ll see.”
Talk of Oscar moving down to 140 will re-ignite speculation about a future match-up with Britain’s light-welterweight king Ricky Hatton.
But first Hatton has a showdown with Paulie Malignaggi on Saturday, before De La Hoya’s clash with Pacquiao a fortnight later.
The man grabbing most of the headlines in the countdown to what they’re calling ‘The Dream Match’ has been Pacman’s trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach of course was in the ‘Golden Boy’s’ corner when he dropped a split decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr in May 2007.
He claims De La Hoya now blames him for that defeat, and is convinced Pacquiao will score an upset victory on December 6.
While Oscar is diplomacy personified when Roach’s name is brought up, those sort of comments have clearly provided extra motivation.
“Freddie Roach has made comments. I’m still going to say and put on the line is that I still respect him as a trainer and I still respect him as a person.
“And, it’s obviously his way of pumping up his fighter. The great thing about me and Manny Pacquiao is that we don’t need to trash talk each other.
“My motivation for this fight is Manny Pacquiao’s explosiveness, Manny Pacquiao’s punching power, Manny Pacquiao’s speed, Manny Pacquiao’s youth. That’s my motivation.
“So, I have nothing bad to say about Manny. And if Freddie Roach is going to say something bad about me, so be it. But I’m oozing with motivation, that’s for sure.”
Despite the obvious attraction of the current P4P king facing the sport’s biggest box-office draw, many see the big fight as a mismatch.
Just over a year ago De La Hoya was fighting at light-middleweight (154lbs) with Pacquiao down at super-featherweight (130lbs).
On the face of, despite the obvious financial windfall, De La Hoya has little to gain. Win and he’s picked on a little guy, while a loss would be embarrassing.
But the man himsef argues: “It accomplishes that we put boxing back on the worldwide stage. It accomplishes that I prove to myself that I can beat a young, hungry lion like Manny Pacquiao and the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“It helps me to realise that I can still do this against the young guns, the hungry lions out there. And, therefore we move on to the next if we come out successful.”
