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Media predictions for Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao fight
By Zach Arnold | December 6, 2008
We start with thoughts from CompuBox:
This will be an exciting yet cerebral fight where different strategies will be put into play. It is uncertain, however, whether the two combatants have successfully transformed their bodies to fit the terms of battle and that, more than anything else, will determine the course of this fight. There is a reason why boxing – and those who choose to participate – are governed by weight classes and in the end De La Hoya-Pacquiao will demonstrate why. A good big man, more often than not, will beat a good little man and while Pacquiao will put forth a stirring challenge, De La Hoya will emerge with a close but unanimous decision.
Next, The Boston Herald:
But this is not simply about weight. It is about the proven reliability of De La Hoya’s chin, the shakiness of Pacquiao’s defense and the Filipino’s style. Pacquiao has become a star in the Phillipines because he is an aggressive puncher who can box, but seldom chooses to. He comes to fight, walking in and throwing.
For a few rounds Pacquiao’s speed will bother De La Hoya and things may look good for Pacquiao, but as the rounds pass Pacquiao will begin to suffer the same fate De La Hoya did when he got in with Bernard Hopkins.
Meanwhile, a controversy has erupted about the way Oscar De La Hoya has his hands taped:
“The tape between the fingers becomes like a piece of rope, and that can cause a cut for sure,” Roach said. “Oscar’s people were saying he’s got away with it 20 times here and I said, ‘Oscar’s a prima donna, but he’s not going to get away with it now.’ Rules are rules.”
With athletic commission Executive Officer Keith Kizer presiding over an impromptu meeting at the MGM Grand, chief inspector Tony Lazo and his assistant Alex Ybarra determined De La Hoya’s brown tape was allowed, but they also ruled that Chavez has to cut the tape in half to one inch when he rolls it up between the fingers.
Bert Sugar thinks De La Hoya is going to lose:
“He’s 35 and a part-time fighter,” Roach said.
Famed boxing writer and historian Bert Sugar, who is picking Pacquiao by decision, agrees.
“Oscar is fighting with all the frequency of Halley’s Comet, for crying out loud,” Sugar said. “He’s had three fights in the last four years. He’s had six fights in the last five years and he’s lost three of those. In that time, Manny’s had 16 fights and only lost once.
“Manny’s just a tsunami of punches – he’ll just wear Oscar down.”
The SF Chronicle’s ‘Fantasy Man’ is not impressed with tonight’s fight:
Worse for Pacquiao and his fans tonight is that he has heart. He is an attacking fighter who leaves himself wide open, and that hasn’t hurt him against 126- and 130-pound fighters. But it will tonight against a 157-pound guy with a huge left hook who needs a win badly after losing two of his last three title fights.
That’s why De La Hoya handpicked Pacquiao as his opponent. And that’s why Pacquiao initially turned him down. And that’s why De La Hoya gave him $11 million.
Marketed differently, this would be like Sugar Ray Leonard, not in his peak but still dangerous, fighting a jockey, a spirited jockey mind you. Is that a “Dream” fight you would spend $55 to watch on pay-per-view?
It’s a disgrace. There is no way this fight lasts five rounds.
Related articles:
- Bob Arum: Hey, we’re going to get 2 million PPV buys for Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao
- The LA Times talks about betting on boxing and mixed martial arts
- More media heat-up for Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao
- Media heat-up for Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 14 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I didnt think Oscar would make the weight so easily. I thought he would be bang on 147.
Give me ODLH by decision.
Pacquiao may come out on fire and catch a cold de la Hoya, but I think the greater likelihood is that the welterweight beats the lightweight.
Is Oscar going to opt for the unofficial weigh-in? I would be interested in seeing the real size difference between these two during the fight.
I don’t like that Delahoya came in so light.
He may say & even believe that he feels great cut down this fine after so many years of campaining at ’54 & ’60, but come fight time he may find that it took too much out of him at this late stage of his career.
Look at Ray Leonard coming down to ’54 against Terry Norris after he’d spent years at ’60 & ’68. Look at RJJ coming back down to ’75 after beating Ruiz for a heavyweight title. And, for a more recent example, look at Chris Byrd cutting down to light heavyweight after spending a decade at Heavyweight.
Sure, he wound up looking like a greek god physique-wise, but it was all cosmetic. Once he got into the ring he was a completely shot fighter & he wound up getting brutally KO’d by an average fighter with mediocre at best power.
Yeah, Oscar’s fighting a much naturally smaller man, but by coming down to within three pounds of that man, he may have depleted himself & made himself quite vulnerable.
Sure, by fight time Delahoya will be a middleweight again, but that water weight won’t undo the stress on his body that his cut to ’45 may have done.
IMO, Oscar’s best bet is to try to get Manny out of there ASAP because if the fight goes rounds he may not have much left in the tank to operate with & Pac-Man may begin to beat him down.
I don\’t like that Delahoya came in so light.
He may say & even believe that he feels great cut down this fine after so many years of campaining at \’54 & \’60, but come fight time he may find that it took too much out of him at this late stage of his career.
Look at Ray Leonard coming down to \’54 against Terry Norris after he\’d spent years at \’60 & \’68. Look at RJJ coming back down to \’75 after beating Ruiz for a heavyweight title. And, for a more recent example, look at Chris Byrd cutting down to light heavyweight after spending a decade at Heavyweight.
Sure, he wound up looking like a greek god physique-wise, but it was all cosmetic. Once he got into the ring he was a completely shot fighter & he wound up getting brutally KO\’d by an average fighter with mediocre at best power.
Yeah, Oscar\’s fighting a much naturally smaller man, but by coming down to within three pounds of that man, he may have depleted himself & made himself quite vulnerable.
Sure, by fight time Delahoya will be a middleweight again, but that water weight won\’t undo the stress on his body that his cut to \’45 may have done.
IMO, Oscar\’s best bet is to try to get Manny out of there ASAP because if the fight goes rounds he may not have much left in the tank to operate with & Pac-Man may begin to beat him down.
If Manny can get past the 1st 6 rounds ok I can see him being v strong in the later rounds and I aint sure oscar will have the energy to keep up with him. Oscar has to get that jab working.
Pacquiao has all the tools to beat De la Hoya. It’s unbelievable how many people in the sports media are saying, “Oh, De la Hoya will automatically win because he’s bigger.” Yes, that gives him an advantage, but no, that does not automatically mean he’s going to win.
Manny started at weightclasses below fly. For him to carry punching power up through not 2 or 3 divisions, but rather up 9 weight classes would be unprecedented. A win over De La Hoya and Pacquiao becomes something like the Duran of his era.
just for the record… Pac said he weighed when he left his hotel room to go to the weighin and he weighed 146.
:/
Oscar 145??? hmmmmmm Oh well Pac will take care of business anyways
D. Cap – Manny started professionally fighting at 106 lbs when he was 16 and stealing and selling cigerettes on the street to buy rat burgers for himself. When he was 21 he was fighting at 122. When he started getting big enough paydays to get some healthy living done he moved up to 130 and started getting his bigger paydays. He’s gotten bigger and bigger naturally as he’s gotten older and had proper nutrition. According to Roach Manny had to do a last day cut of an additional 2 lbs to make 135 for his last fight with Diaz and at that point said he’s not cutting to 135 anymore. After this fight he’s moving back down to 140 which he still has to cut a little to. Its not as bad as alot of the uneducated boxing press makes it out to be with that whole 106 thing.
Manny at this point in his career has most recently been fighting at 130-135, which is where a 19-20 year old Oscar started over a decade ago in the sport. He’s significantly smaller than Oscar by any stretch of the imagination, and Oscar when at those lower weight classes was a mammoth puncher.
If Manny wins, I take nothing away from it. Hell, its the most incredible win I can think of in eons, tantamount to Anderson Silva beating Fedor.
Yeah while Pacman was at 130 earlier this year at 29 years old, the last time Oscar was 130 was at 21 years old. (I love Boxrec lol) No doubt that DLH has a lot of size on Pacman. Though like skwirrl said, it’s not as exaggerated as the media makes it out to be. Good nutrition goes a long way. Pacman can’t be that small naturally when he can bulk up close to 150 pounds of muscle at 5’6″ when there are plenty of skinny guys who are like 5’10” 125 pounds who can’t gain weight despite eating a heavy western diet and loads of junk food.
I called it almost to the letter!
Hey, Zach, who edited my post above?!?
Ed. — Not sure what you are talking about. Haven’t been around all day on the site until the last hour or so.
OK. I lied. I got it way wrong. 🙁