Famed fight trainer Freddie Roach went on the record with this, ?He can’t pull the trigger anymore.? Referring to the legendary Oscar De La Hoya, implying that he’s too old, and won’t be able to get his punches off in time. Roach also went on the record and told everybody that, ?If Many loses this fight, I don’t want a dime.? This of course implies that if Manny loses, Freddie gets no payday, nothing but some good Vegas food and a good seat at the post fight press conference.
So when Roach rolled the dice and told the world that his prize champion horse would not only defeat De La Hoya, but that he would knock him out, he once again went out on the line and rolled the dice. This was a very bold roll of the dice. Roach will either look like a genius, or he will have a lot of explaining to do to the millions of Filipino fans around the world.
So let’s look at the two scenarios. Lets take a look at the genius scenario and what will have to happen for this to come to fruition. Let there be no doubt that Roach is already a hall of fame trainer, with a resume to back it up. With that said, he has put a lot on the line with his predictions for this fight. If Manny defeats De La Hoya by unanimous decision, Roach will sail on and his status as the second most famous man in The Philippines will stay intact. If Manny wins by knockout, Roach then grabs a hold of Manny’s belt loop and they both soar to the stratosphere together. A Pacquiao knockout over De La Hoya would be a stunning victory, and it would remind me of when Babe Ruth pointed his bat to the left field wall predicting that the next pitch would a home run.
What happens if De La Hoya wins? The answer is, it would depend on how convincing the win was. If Pacquiao takes a 12 round beating, that wouldn’t bode too well for Roach. However, he could still say that his guy stood up to Oscar for 12 rounds, and with the size difference it could be considered a victory of some sort. Now, if Oscar knocks Manny out, this would obviously be the worse case scenario for both Manny and Freddie Roach. A knockout victory for Oscar De La Hoya would be a tough situation for Freddie to explain. There will many waiting to hear what he has to say at the post fight press conference. There will be many writers asking Roach to explain what he was thinking by putting such a smaller fighter in there with a bigger fighter, and a bigger fighter who happens to be a legend.
Let it be said that nobody is forcing Manny Pacquiao to get in there with Oscar De La Hoya. If Pacquiao gets knocked out, he himself will take some of the blame. Manny is his own man, and ultimately he makes the decision on who he fights, and who he doesn’t fight.
So how about De La Hoya? What happens to his legacy if he loses to a guy the size of Manny Pacquiao? I have said that Manny himself is in a win win situation. A loss to De La Hoya, and most will chalk it up to the size difference. A Pacquiao win, and everybody will say ?WOW? what an amazing fighter he is.
Now, if Oscar loses to Pacquiao, what will the people say? Some will say that it was because Oscar got old overnight. But, that won’t satisfy everybody. Oscar would have a very big thorn in his side if Manny wins this fight, a very big one. Only time will tell what he would do about it.
So there you have it folks, there are plenty of scenarios that can take place on Saturday night. There are reputations at stake, there is pride at stake, there is a lot of money at stake. Let’s see if the dice settle on the table in Roach’s favor, or not.
