Five Reasons Why De La Hoya Will Beat Pacquiao Posted by Ramon Aranda on 12.01.2008

In this Part 1 of a 2 part column, I look into five reasons why Oscar will beat Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night.

Photo by Laura De La Torre / 411mania.com

Though Oscar De La Hoya is currently only a 2 to 1 favorite, the consensus seems to be that De La Hoya ‘should' win. Whether he will or not is something we'll have to wait to find out but today, let's look at five reasons why Oscar should be victorious on December 6th.

1. Oscar is simply too big. - Let's face it, although they'll be meeting at 147 pounds, it's safe to assume that come fight night, Oscar will likely have another 10 pounds or so on Manny Pacquiao. You couple that with the fact that Oscar is 5'10 ½" and has a 73-inch reach, over Manny's 5'6½" frame and 67-inch wingspan and you've got yourself quite an advantage for the Golden Boy. With Oscar's exceptional jab, this could be an easy fight should he stay on the outside and pepper Manny with that hard left. As the old saying goes, a good big man, always beats a good little man rings true and this one should be no different.

2. De La Hoya's power is key. - We know Oscar can punch, specifically with that left hook of his. We also know that Manny can take a punch. However, Manny has two knockout losses in his career against guys much lighter, and we've seen him get rocked a couple of times by guys like Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar Larios. I assure you, Oscar punches much harder than both of those guys. Against smaller opposition, Oscar thrives on landing bombs from the outside and if Marquez stunned him in both of their fights, how do we expect him to take one flush on the chin by a guy who's fought as high as 160 pounds? De La Hoya wants the knockout, and he may very well get it.

3. Oscar can take Manny's punch. - Given that he's the naturally bigger guy and given that only Bernard Hopkins with his sledgehammer left hook to the body was able to stop De La Hoya, it's safe to say that he should be able to take Manny's punch. Being that he'll likely have no problems with Manny's power, we can expect Oscar to be willing to take a punch to give one back. This should make for a more aggressive Oscar which is bad news for the Pac-Man.

4. So much motivation. - Oscar De La Hoya is in the twilight of his career and getting yet another opportunity to unseat the current pound for pound king (he's fought Hopkins, Mayweather and Whitaker as p4p champs) is a great way to end or be close to finishing his career. He doesn't want to end his career on a bad note and although he's mentioned the possibility of fighting beyond 2008 if he wins, should he retire, he'd love to have the distinction of knocking off Manny Pacquiao, something that seems as difficult a thing to do as any. Though Erik Morales has one win over Pacquiao, Manny has put a hurting on Morales, Barrera and to an extent Marquez, giving De La Hoya another reason to want to hurt Pacquiao. Pride. Sure he's not born in Mexico like those other three, but Oscar is of Mexican decent and what better thing for him and his Mexican and Mexican-Americans fans than to derail the Pac-Express. Come hell or high water, Oscar won't leave that ring until he ends Pacquiao's reign as p4p king.

5. Oscar is much too smart. - Oscar is a student of the game and I'm pretty sure he saw Manny's two bouts against Juan Manuel Marquez; the one guy who's given Manny problems. Oscar is a bigger and more refined version of Marquez and you can bet that he's studied those fights. All he has to do really is follow the blue print and a win should be more than attainable.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Five Reasons Why Pacquiao Will Beat De La Hoya!