MANNY PACQUIAO DEFEATED OSCAR DELA HOYA ON THE 8th ROUND! CONGRATULATIONS!! PINOY PRIDE!
Showing posts with label Manny Pacquiao Vs Dela Hoya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manny Pacquiao Vs Dela Hoya. Show all posts
'DREAM MATCH' FINAL PRESSCON PHOTOS
December 4, 2008
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PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 04 Dec 2008
Las Vegas, Nevada -- (L-R) The 'Golden Boy' Oscar De La Hoya,East Los Angeles and four-time world champion Manny Pacquiao, General Santos,Philippines pose during the final press conference for their upcoming world welterweight rumble 'Dream Match' on Saturday,December 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Golden Boy and Top Rank present De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao which will available on HBO Pay Per View. -- Photo Credit : Chris Farina - Top Rank
"HEADING TO LAS VEGAS"
December 2, 2008
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PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 02 Dec 2008
12/1/08,Los Angeles,Calif. -- Four-time world champion Manny Pacquiao,General Santos,Philippines takes a look at his custom Team Pacquiao bus which is heading to Las Vegas for his upcoming world welterweight rumble 'Dream Match' against the 'Golden Boy' Oscar De La Hoya,East Los Angeles on Saturday,December 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas,Nevada. Golden Boy and Top Rank present De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao which will available on HBO Pay Per View. --- Photo Credit : Chris Farina - Top Rank copyright 2008.
Well-Rested or Battle-Tested? The Riddle of Oscar-Pacquiao
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Manny Pacquiao Vs Dela Hoya
Let’s get this out of the way at the start – Oscar De La Hoya is in the best shape of his life, he’s got the fire back, and he’s coming out to make a statement in his bout against Manny Pacquiao on December 6th.
Okay, now that the usual pre-fight bluster from ‘The Golden Boy’ has been covered, we can get down to business and look at this Saturday’s bout, the latest “Super Fight” involving this era’s biggest box office attraction.
But is it as super as the promoters of the event would have you believe? Sure, there have been 8,000 teleconferences, 9,000 press releases, and 10,000 words of hyperbole, but that just means that the PR staffs are doing their jobs. When it comes to that all-important buzz, there’s not that “butterflies in the stomach” feeling for this one.
Maybe it’s because it looks like De La Hoya is taking on a much smaller opponent in Pacquiao just to make another huge payday with the least amount of risk.
Maybe it’s because the best trash talk of the entire promotion has come from Freddie Roach (via PR ace Fred Sternburg).
Maybe it’s because De La Hoya hasn’t won a significant fight since he stopped Fernando Vargas in 2002.
Or maybe it’s because no matter what happens this weekend, the boxing world will remain the same. There are no championships at stake, no future bouts riding on the outcome of this one. Win or lose, De La Hoya will almost certainly make another cash grab – this one in the UK against Ricky Hatton next year. Win or lose, Pacquiao will still reside in the number one spot most have him in on the pound for pound list, and he will then go back down in weight to engage in meaningful fights once again.
So why bother? Why spend your hard-earned cash in a recession on what may turn out to be a blowout victory for the bigger, stronger De La Hoya?
For the Pac-Man.
Already a national icon in the Philippines, Pacquiao now has the opportunity to not only achieve some of that same popularity here in the States, but he can do so by overturning all the odds against him. It’s a position he has rarely been in over the last few years while battling the likes of Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Juan Manuel Marquez. In each of those fights, Pacquiao’s speed and explosiveness bought him a measure of respect that ensured at the very least that the fight would be competitive.
But now, he’s the sacrificial lamb in the eyes of most observers. Sure, he’ll get paid well, but it’s expected that when De La Hoya closes in and starts pounding him with his left hook, the Philippine hero will be earning every penny of his paycheck. Of course, Team De La Hoya has pulled out all the stops in trying to portray this as an even fight, down to the recruitment of Nacho Beristain and Angelo Dundee as the only strategic masterminds he could bring in to figure out the Rubik’s Cube of Pacquiao. De La Hoya is also in the best shape of his life, he’s got the fire back, and he’s looking to make a statement – oops, we covered this already. But beyond the soundbites and introspective 24/7 moments, you can’t help but look at De La Hoya as a guy who knows that a fighter whose first championship came at 112 pounds can’t possibly beat him.
But he can.
I was slow to get on the Pacquiao bandwagon, but as the years have gone on, he’s grown on me. Not only for his ability to send an electric jolt down his opponents’ spine with a left hand down the middle, but for his heart and his humble demeanor. He could do other things – and he has – but when it comes down to it, he’s a fighter. I don’t know if you can classify Oscar as that anymore.
Sure, De La Hoya’s got the skill, chin, and stones to stand in and be competitive with anybody, but since his last big win – over Vargas – in 2002, he’s only gone 4-3. The wins coming over Ricardo Mayorga, Steve Forbes, Yory Boy Campas, and Felix Sturm, with many believing that he shouldn’t have gotten the nod over Sturm in 2004. That’s seven fights in six years.
On the other side of the ring, Pacquiao has gone 13-1-1 over the last six years. His only loss was to Morales, a defeat he avenged twice; and the only draw came against Marquez, another blemish ultimately avenged. Also on Pacquiao’s hit list were Barrera (twice), Oscar Larios, Jorge Solis, and David Diaz.
Yes, size does matter and it may be a key factor in determining the final result on Saturday night, but if you had your choice, would you rather be battle-tested and smaller, or bigger and well-rested? If you’re battle-tested – like Pacquiao is – your muscle memory is tuned to a high level, your face has been hardened by the blows you have taken, and when the bell rings for round seven, you don’t sigh; you simply take a deep breath and get back to work.
De La Hoya doesn’t have any of that anymore. His face was bruised up pretty bad by the light-hitting Forbes in May, his late round stamina has been questionable for years, and hey, Roach said it himself that ‘The Golden Boy’ can’t pull the trigger like he used to, and it’s hard to disagree, especially since he couldn’t dent the chin of Forbes, couldn’t get any respect from Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Sturm, or Shane Mosley, and was only able to finish the hittable Mayorga, his only stoppage win in the last five years.
Add in Pacquiao’s relentless pressure and assumed edge in speed, and you’ve got an exciting fight with the potential for a major upset all of a sudden.
And if he does shock the world, Pacquiao may very well be boxing’s Obama, ringing in change for a sport in dire need of it. There will be no more ducking of legitimate fighters, no more business transactions masquerading as super fights. Boxing can get back to the business of matching the best against the best, and a new era can begin. And somewhere, in a little gym in the middle of nowhere, a young boy with a dream will pick up boxing gloves and say ‘Yes I can! Yes I can!’
Okay HBO, you’ve got my $54.95. Who would have thought that a few weeks of 24/7 and a stuffed email box would get me to buy a fight between a blown-up flyweight and a multi-millionaire who is 4-3 in his last seven bouts?
Hagler-Hearns or Ali-Frazier it isn’t. I guess boxing truly is a sickness.
Is it Personal for Pacquiao?
By Steve Kim
Well, it's finally here, as Oscar De La Hoya faces the diminutive Manny Pacquiao this Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in what will be the most anticipated event (note, I didn't say fight) of 2008. And in listening to some of the comments of 'The Golden Boy' and GBP CEO Richard Schaefer, it's clear that this matchup is personal.
Remember, it wasn't that long ago when Manny was being whisked away from airports to steakhouses, lured to signing a contract with Golden Boy Promotions as he had a working deal with Top Rank. Soon, the tug-of-war for his services turned into a full-blown cold war between the two promotional titans that saw fighting everywhere between the two companies - except in the actual boxing ring.
Finally, as a settlement was brokered last summer, Pacquiao would basically state his preference to fight for Top Rank, with Golden Boy as a secondary partner in his promotions. To Oscar and his company it was the ultimate act of betrayal to choose Bob Arum's company. They just don't give money to anyone in a suitcase.
De La Hoya, who can be as genial and vanilla in his pre-fight rhetoric as any marquee fighter in the history of the sport, has made it quite clear that he'd like to make 'the Pac Man' pay for his indiscretion. For him, this isn't just another fight, but an ongoing battle for the control of boxing and its chess board versus their arch-rival Top Rank (just listen to Bernard Hopkins' statement after his victory over Kelly Pavlik). And oh yeah, they want to punish Manny. This has become quite personal.
"That's his beliefs, I respect that, but for me, it's nothing personal," he would say a couple of weeks back as he finished up his roadwork at Griffith Park near Hollywood. "I'm going to go in the ring and fight like a man and to give a good fight to make people happy."
When asked if he had any bitter feelings, Pacquiao would tell Maxboxing, "I know he's angry at me, disappointed, but I don't want to bring that business to the fight on December 6th. I want to focus on my fight and don't want to be distracted in the ring."
Which is fair enough. After all, he's got a pretty steep mountain to climb in facing De La Hoya, who long ago made the move up to 147 pounds and has fought as high as middleweight in the past. Pacquiao, who won his first world title as a flyweight, just recently made the move up to 135-pounds this past June when he bludgeoned David Diaz.
"I feel very comfortable and I feel happy, I never expected to fight at this weight," he would say. "I'm very happy because I have a chance to fight at 147 pounds."
The key is simple - to move up while retaining his trademark speed and explosiveness.
"I feel I still have the speed and power and that's what we're focused on in training, speed, because the speed will be the key in this fight," he states. But the question is, just how well with Pacquiao take a good hard shot from De La Hoya, who can still kick with his left hook. He says during his sparring sessions against the likes of Rashad Holloway, "I feel them harder but I can handle their power because I'm big too. So I believe that I can handle Oscar's power."
You don't have to be Chappie Blackburn - or even Angelo Dundee - to figure out that Pacquiao and his trainer Freddie Roach (who has some issues with De La Hoya himself) have worked extensively on neutralizing Oscar's left hook.
"During our training we always focus on Oscar's left hook, his left hand and that's what we're studying everyday. So we're ready on that. We applied a lot of techniques for this fight," he admits. But you go back to that size difference. The reality is that while De La Hoya can get touched up a bit and still win the fight handily, the whirlwind southpaw will have to pitch not just a no-hitter, but perhaps a perfect game.
But he insists, "The size is not bothering me and I think the speed will be my advantage. The speed will be the key in this fight. And of the difference in stature, "Well, he's not that much bigger than me but a lot of people say Oscar is too big for me. But I don't think so."
So two guys that were once friends and business partners now duke it out in boxing's latest un-civil war.
"I know both of us, there's pressure on each other. Especially for me, it's a big pressure because a lot of people are saying I'm small and I took this fight because of money. But I want to show the people that I accepted this fight because I have a big chance to win and I want to show the people - especially the Filipino people - that I'll win in this fight and bring honor to the country."
A NIGHTMARE
As you felt the buzz and electricity on Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California after Chris Arreola had dusted himself off the canvas to stop Travis Walker in three exciting frames, everybody got the sense that they have something in Arreola.
An exciting, hard-nosed vato that is fun to watch.
There's no doubt that he's also on the verge of being a bona-fide ticket seller locally. The announced attendance was around 5,400, and there's no question in my mind that those who were there and those who watched on HBO will fork over their hard-earned dollars to see this guy the next time out.
He certainly is a lot of things to many people in the boxing business.
But realistically, he's not a guy anywhere near ready to face either Klitschko (as his bout with Walker was an IBF eliminator). Bottom line, it's a bad style matchup for him and until he gets down to 240, he's just a slow moving target for Wladimir Klitschko. Guys who aren't gifted with great athleticism don't have the luxury of coming out of shape at the world class level. At 250-pounds plus, he looks like he has a piano on his back.
What would I do if I was running Arreola's career in a perfect world? I'd sit on the ranking through all of 2009 and just keep building the fan-base at the CBBA and take on the likes of Sam Peter, Tye Fields, Lamon Brewster and Oleg Maskaev. Keep him active and out there, and keep him in the gym, as he works his way down to 240.
But then, this is far from a perfect world, isn't it?
FINAL FLURRIES
So what's the name of Pacquiao's little Jack Russell Terrier? 'Pac Man', of course....Are the New York Giants actually better than they were last year?......Jesus Soto-Karass did what he was supposed to in blowing out Hicklet Lau in two rounds....Paul Williams is an absolute windmill in the ring....Remember when USC-Notre Dame was a rivalry?.....
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