ESPN poll picks Hoya over Pacman

By Nick Giongco

In an on-going poll being conducted by ESPN Boxing, 56 percent of voters believe Oscar De La Hoya will repulse the challenge of Filipino favorite Manny Pacquiao when they collide on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Of the 13,016 polled, 44 percent, however, are convinced that Pacquiao, who will be jumping up two weight classes, can pull off an upset win.

Pacquiao last fought as a lightweight (135 lbs), while De La Hoya will go down a bit from super-welterweight (154 lbs) to welter (147 lbs) in what is expected to be a smashing success in pay-per-view sales considering that all 16,000 seats at the Grand Garden Arena have either been sold out or purchased in advance by the major stakeholders of the promotion.

The ESPN figures do not exactly mirror the Las Vegas betting line, which lists De La Hoya as a 2-1 favorite.

Even the Ring magazine — which the Golden Boy owns — ran a poll on who would win the clash between Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound king and De La Hoya, the pay-per-view champion, in its commemorative issue that hit the streets last week.

Of the 20 polled, only two picked Pacquiao to emerge victorious.

But when one raised the issue with members of Team Pacquiao, they just ignored it, saying they were numbers.

Freddie Roach, on whose hands rests Pacquiao’s fate, strongly believes there’s no way De La Hoya, who is pushing 36, will turn back the hands of time even if he has been busy beefing up his training team with marquee names.

"I like where Manny is right now," said Roach, noting that the 29-year-old puncher always look good in training.

"Manny’s 151 lbs now and he’s going down slowly," said Roach, sounding very confident that making the 147-lb limit on the eve of the fight won’t pose a problem."

"Manny’s body contains just 5 percent fat and he looks great," added Roach, who expects the workouts to intensify even further with the addition of sparring rounds every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This Tuesday, Pacquiao will begin sparring eight rounds and around 15 to 20 days before the fight, he will log 12 rounds of sparring in one training day.