De La Hoya vs Pacquiao: A Superfight In Name Only
- Posted on Sun, November 30th, 2008
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Yes, I said it. This fight is not a superfight. It is a spectacle being marketed as a superfight. The spectacle centers around 
the current pound-for-pound king Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao (47-3, 35 KOs), who began his career fighting at a mere 106 pounds, facing off against "the Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) 41 pounds later. Besides this weighty matter, the fight is meaningless on a few levels.
My biggest beef is that this fight will have no impact on boxing’s current divisional or pound-for-pound rankings. If Manny wins, he’ll probably get a measure of credit for beating a man who is much bigger than him. But this feat will be diminished by the fact that De La Hoya is fighting way past his prime. If Oscar wins, people will say, "so, go pick on someone your own size!"
At the end of the day, this fight will have its greatest impact on the already-considerable bank accounts of both fighters. I haven’t decided if I am willing to contribute to either. Whether I purchase this pay-per-view event will be much harder than the prediction that I am about to make.
All that glitters ain’t gold, but the Golden Boy should have enough left in the tank to beat the great, but little Pac Man. In boxing, it is often said that a good big man will usually beat a good little man. This fight should be no different. Although De La Hoya has lost some foot and hand speed over the years, he still has considerable defense, height, reach, and, most importantly, power advantages in this fight. Pacquiao will counter with faster hands, quicker feet and decent power (even at the higher weight). The little guy will make it very interesting, but will find out that size still matters.
De La Hoya by mid-to-late round stoppage over Pacquiao.
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I agree completely. I can’t help but think of Gatti vs. Gamache whenever I see a preview for this fight. For money purposes, it makes sense for both fighters but as you stated, a good big man will almost always beat a good little man. I like De la Hoya by KO in 6.
ReplyI don’t know if it will end as violently as the legalized be-heading that Gatti-Gamache was, but I think the size and power differential will be similar in some ways. The height/reach difference is what really stands out to me.
ReplyWhy do you think 6th Round?
Replyi hope your wrong both of you.. you’ll see..
ReplyJuan Miguel,
I actually wouldn’t mind the the smaller guy (Pacquiao) doing something very impressive, but I just don’t see it. Don’t get me wrong, Oscar has not proven unbeatable BUT styles make fights. Oscar, being the savvy promoter now, seems to know how to pick ‘em lately. He fought Mayweather, who he figured couldn’t hurt him, and if he lost (he lost to the #1 fighter in the world) but if he won, what a big comeback victory. He called out the winner of Cotto-Margarito, when in reality he only wanted Cotto, who he felt he could defeat and at top dollar. Now, he’s called out Manny…another great fighter (like Mayweather), but even smaller with less defensive prowess. However, I think if he loses, it will look REALLY bad it would probably end his career. With that, I’m pretty confident that he knows this and is VERY confident of victory (based on PacMan’s style). We shall see; I’m not Nostradamus, but I see Oscar by stoppage. I’ve been wrong before; just not too often (lol).
ReplyOh stop joking, you all know Pacman will Stop Oscar in 30 seconds
Replyi’m a pacman fan but i don’t see a pacman win, dlh is older but at 35 he’s still fast and strong
ReplyI have learned that:
Joe is a comedian.
and
Tony51 is an unbiased Pac Man fan.
Enjoy the fight people.
ReplyOscar will not not win this fight. I’m going to say a prayer for him cause he simply doesn’t have one.
ReplyDe La Hoya BETTER win this early’ I am VERY concerned with this re-hydration issue…he got down to 145 and is only 147 on fight night? Hmmm. We’ll see.
ReplyBooba, you could be right; this weight issue has me concerned. But I still gotta stick with my De La Hoya pick.
ReplyPac Man I am sorry - you are RIDICULOUSLY good. I know that Oscar came in looking like a famished skeleton, but my hat goes off to Manny Pacquiao. Wow.
ReplyNow I KNOW you all simply mortgaged your houses and bet it on Pacman.
Very funny you pretend to be Oscar believers.
Congrats and enjoy the lavish lifestyles!
ReplyPAC MAN. Beat him down good. was not even a fight.
Reply