WOW Pinoy: De La Hoya has to lost and gain

De La Hoya has to lost and gain

Written by Ms. Confuse on Monday, September 01, 2008

It was speculation that was ridiculed months ago, but an Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight is no laugher. Not anymore. What first had been rumored nearly six months ago is deadly serious. De La Hoya and Pacquiao agreed last week to fight at 147 pounds. Only the scale can put that in perspective. De La Hoya, who hasn't fought at 135 pounds in more than 12 years, has a date on Dec. 6 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand against Pacquiao, who fought at 135 for the first time in March. If it sounds as though it is off the scale, it is. In fact, that's why the fight is happening. On the financial scale, De La Hoya-Pacquiao has a chance to rival record revenues generated by Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s victory over De La Hoya in May 2007. In a conference call Thursday, De La Hoya talked about other motivations, including comments from Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach, who was in De La Hoya's corner for the loss to Mayweather.

For a couple of months, Roach has been saying that De La Hoya would be the only big-name, bigger fighter Pacquiao would face. Roach has said a lot of things about De La Hoya. But one word sums it up: shot. Roach doesn't think there is much left to De La Hoya, the best known and wealthiest fighter of the current generation and several more. "I have to figure out a way to pull the trigger - the way Roach said," said De La Hoya, who is 3-3 in his past six fights. That trigger, the instinctive ability to throw punches, has appeared dormant, especially in De La Hoya's last outing in a decision over a smaller Steve Forbes. Maybe size will prevail. At a listed 5-10 1/2, De La Hoya, who has never fought at a weight lighter than 130, is 4 inches taller than Pacquiao, who is listed at 5-6 1/2 and started his career in the Philippines at a reported 107 pounds.

Pacquiao, who will jump junior-welterweight (140) altogether, believes his speed will be too much for De La Hoya, who could not counter Mayweather's quickness and had trouble dealing with it against an overmatched Forbes. The bout itself looks like a dilemma for De La Hoya, fighter and promoter. As a fighter with a Hall of Fame legacy, De La Hoya has a lot to lose. Pacquiao, the little guy, has little to lose. But De La Hoya, the promoter, has plenty to gain. On second thought, maybe it's not a dilemma at all.

Golden Boy fan
Beijing Olympic gold-medalist Henry Cejudo, formerly of Phoenix Maryvale High, said he would be a boxer if he weren't America's best freestyle wrestler. When he's not on the mat, he said he is watching his favorite boxers. "I like them all, especially De La Hoya," Cejudo said. "I like everybody from Rocky Juarez to Hector 'Macho' Camacho. Yeah, all of them, really."

Briefs
On the AZ card: Phoenix super-featherweight Juan Garcia (14-1, 5 KOs), coming off his lone loss, is scheduled to fight Jose Hernandez (9-1, 3 KOs) of Fort Worth, Texas, on Sept. 12 at the Wild Horse Pass Casino in Chandler. Valley heavyweight and cruiserweight Erik Vega (8-2-1, 6 KOs) also is scheduled for the card. And there should be plenty for everybody in De La Hoya-Pacquiao, but percentages of the financial pie were not disclosed Thursday. According to initial reports, De La Hoya wanted 70 percent. But Pacquiao reportedly balked, demanding 40 instead of 30. Pick a figure somewhere in between, say 65 percent for De La Hoya and 35 for Pacquiao.