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Pacquiao defeats De La Hoya in eight lopsided rounds

Pacquiao defeats De La Hoya in eight lopsided rounds


By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY
LAS VEGAS — Oscar De La Hoya walked across the ring at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night and uttered the most poignant words of his career:
"You were right, Freddie," he said to Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao's trainer, "I just don't have it anymore."

Roach trained De La Hoya for one fight, and that was a decision loss last year to Floyd Mayweather Jr. The two bantered back and forth before this bout, with De La Hoya saying that it was Roach's strategy — not himself — that was at fault for the Mayweather loss.

After eight of the most one-sided rounds in De La Hoya's 16-year career, Pacquiao accomplished what elite welterweights Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley and Mayweather could not. He stopped De La Hoya.

And he did it by coming up from the featherweight and lightweight divisions (122-135 pounds) to dominate De La Hoya at 147. In modern boxing history, what Pacquiao did — he started his career at 106 — is unprecedented.

"I knew right away in the first round. I controlled the fight right away," Pacquiao said. "I was able to defend against his jab and I was able to move around."

Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) did it all. The southpaw landed his right jab at will, and every variety of punches imaginable. By the second round, De La Hoya's face was blood red. Then the Filipino started attacking his body with great success.

"Oscar was in good condition but he couldn't control the southpaw stance or Manny's style," said Nacho Beristain, in his first fight as De La Hoya's trainer. "He just didn't seem to have the strength to stop him."

Story of the Fight

Pacquiao TKO's Oscar De La Hoya

If Pacquiao wins, get ready for Pacquiao versus Hatton in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

When they announce the outcome of Saturday night's fight at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, no matter whose name is called, the winner will be Hatton. "I guess we might all be finding ourselves in Hatton Wonderland pretty soon," said Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions and partner of the company president, De La Hoya.

There had been talk of De La Hoya retiring after Saturday's fight, but that seems increasingly unlikely, especially if he wins. So when Schaefer waxes eloquently over the quality and quantity of Hatton fans and says things such as, "Oscar and Hatton in Wembley Stadium, 100,000 fans, maybe break an attendance record -- now that would be a mega event," you know it's more than daydreaming.

Bob Arum, another huge player in the sport and Pacquiao's promoter at Top Rank, sees the next big thing differently.

"You can't do Wembley," he said. "That makes absolutely no sense.

"I just got back from Dubai. It's like Fantasyland. Huge, new, spectacular buildings everywhere.

"Think of Pacquiao-Hatton. There is a large Filipino population in Dubai, and the biggest tourism comes from England. Because I'm Pacquiao's promoter, I got recognized as much there as Michael Jordan would in the States."

So, apparently, what happens in Las Vegas won't be staying there after Saturday.

The Price of a Thrilling Fight

Vazquez recovering

Huntington Park's super-bantamweight world champion, Israel Vazquez, says he has undergone three surgeries to repair a detached retina in his right eye he suffered in his thrilling third fight against Rafael Marquez in March.

Vazquez underwent the latest surgery in August. He said the eye "should be OK" for him to fight Marquez in the spring. For now, he said his sight in the eye is "like looking through a bag filled with water.

From: Gordon Wright
Date: 12/3/2008 2:00:49 PM
To: 'bob lewis'
Subject: RE: Big Fight


Very insightful, Bob… engaging comments.



G






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From: bob lewis [mailto:buddhha@shaw.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2008 4:27 PM
To: Gordon Wright
Cc: Paul Mitchell
Subject: RE: Big Fight



Manny's trainer Freddy Roach thinks he sees some weakness in Oscar that Manny can exploit. Speed and youth versus aging fighter who can't pull the trigger. Oscar's response time has slowed. By the time Oscar's brain sends the message to punch, Manny will have moved away. This happens to older fighters. Hopkins just showed us that an older fighter who has lived a very clean life and is a master boxer can overcome the youth gap. Bernard had too many dimensions for Kelly Pavlik.



Oscar is just plain bigger and stronger and a great fighter in top shape. Manny might look much better at first but Oscar's size and punching will slow Manny down and Oscar should be able to dominate and KO the smaller guy.



-------Original Message-------



From: Gordon Wright

Date: 12/3/2008 6:34:48 AM

To: 'bob lewis'

Subject: RE: Big Fight



That’s perceptive Bob, and I think you are right. So, the question is, why is Manny fighting Oscar, other than for the money?



G




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Fl
Subject: Big Fight

Just showed Oscar and Manny training again. I go with the old adage that a good big guy beats a good small guy. Manny turned pro at 105 pounds so fighting Oscar at 147 is a quantum leap for the human body. Oscar has fought at middleweight and looks really comfortable at 154. He will probably be 160 on fight night and Manny will be lighter probably than the 147 limit. He is going to need to be wearing deep- sea-diver boots at the weigh in to make it up to 147 pounds!