Pacquiao’s supporters (above) cheer him on against De La Hoya.

BY: Robert Epstein www.diamondboxing.com

With victories over Marquez, Diaz and De La Hoya and the title of current pound for pound champion all accomplished in the twenty ninth stanza of his life. Pacquiao now looks ahead to his thirties and the final stages of his boxing career. Not to leave doubt in any ones mind that Pacquiao deserves to be listed as one of The Greatest Boxers of all Time he will now take on Ricky Hatton.  Forget about any rumors of bouts with Kendall Holt or Zab Judah these make no sense or no money and will do Pacquiao no justice. A pound for pound champ wants to fight the best and the best name out there right now is Ricky Hatton. A Hatton – Pacquiao bout if held in the U.K. will break all of the boxing attendance records. However, as negations enter the final stages it appears that the bout will take place in Las Vegas in order to achieve the best economic results.  

While Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton will due their battling inside the ring some time in May 2009, the fans of these two boxing warriors have already begun to square off outside the ring. The message boards the rebuttals, the polls have already started to heat up. The pre fight hype is on and the fan comradery alone will be a battle in it’s self.

Pacquiao with his aggressive boxing style, his offensive approach, always on the attack mentality makes him fan friendly and his recent destruction of De La Hoya has added believers to The Pacman Nation. If you add in Pacquiao’s kind hearted good deeds along with his generosity it becomes very difficult not to be a fan. Pacman has his country of 91 million strong behind him and with the additional support around the globe growing by leaps and bounds Pacman Nation is at its peak stronger than ever. Pacman Nation is ready to take on the Hatton Cult.  

Hatton (above) greets thousands of his fans at the MGM in Vegas before the Malginaggi bout.  

Hatton by far is the leading box office draw, without a doubt if this bout was held at Wembly Stadium 100,000 strong will come and maybe the stadium attendance record of 126,047 could be challenged. When Hatton fights no matter if its home in England or in his second home Vegas the cult comes out. In his last two Vegas bouts against Mayweather and Malignaggi the Hatton following hit the Vegas desert in droves, by the tens of thousands. The pre-fight weigh-in-in is an event in it’s self with over 6,000 Hattonnites strong. Oh yes Hatton has his own Elvis and lets not forget his brass band.

The interest in this bout has already reached a fever pitch, the bout has not been officially announced and the entire boxing world is buzzing with Pacquiao – Hatton thoughts. Pacquiao who has been installed as the 2 to 5 betting favorite to win the bout will also be the global fan favorite. However with his traveling army Hatton for sure will still have the larger on-site fan support.

De La Hoya (above) slumped in the corner at the end of the eighth round

As Pacman journeys to another era in his career one has to reflect back on the amazing past year Pacquiao had, fresh in the minds of all is Pacquiao’s destruction of the Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya. Yes it was destruction from the opening bell to the lasting image of De La Hoya slumped on his stool in the corner at the end of the eighth round. That image will play in my mind for a long time as it wasn’t the end of De La Hoya’s career that I am thinking about but the beginning of Manny’s. I know Pacquiao has been boxing for over thirteen years, I know he has 48 victories and only 3 losses, I know he beat the likes of Barrera, Marquez and Morales all who may have been better boxers than De La Hoya. However, it’s the De La Hoya conquering that catapulted Manny as one of The Greatest Boxers of all Time.

Now Hatton must go face to face with the career ending giant Paquiao, if Pacquiao can achieve the same results and crush Hatton in De La Hoya like fashion Hatton’s cult will also be retired.

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De La Hoya and Pacquiao Kick off the “Dream Match” at the Statue of Liberty

BY: Rick Assad - After what transpired between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya inside the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena this Saturday night, it became apparent to the 15,001 fans in attendance and those watching on pay-per-view, the Golden Boy has likely fought for the final time.

The relentless pounding that Pacquiao rendered over eight rounds during their non-title welterweight match, and the manner in which De La Hoya left the ring, his only decision can be “no mas.” Anything else would be futile.

“I was able to defend his jab,” said Pacquiao, considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.”I was connecting with everything. He was connecting with nothing. Speed was the answer to this fight.”

Once great and formidable, the 35-year-old De La Hoya looked old, out-of-shape and tired when trainer Nacho Beristan called a halt to the fight prior to the ninth round. De La Hoya’s left eye was practically closed, and his face looked pained.

“I stopped the fight because I didn’t want him to leave his greatness in the ring,” said Beristan.”Oscar was in good condition, but he couldn’t control Manny’s southpaw stance or style. He wasn’t able to stop him. He just didn’t seem to have the strength tonight.”

The beating De La Hoya absorbed, especially in the seventh round, should tell the one-time Olympic gold medal champion that his time is over.

“I am not shocked because at this stage, when you face someone like Manny Pacquiao, you know you are going to be in a fight,” De La Hoya said. “I worked and trained really hard for this fight, but as I have told everyone, it is a totally different story when you get in the ring.”

De La Hoya went on: “My style is to go forward, but he was boxing on his toes all night and waiting for me to make my mistake. I just didn’t have the strength to stop him and my body did not respond.”

Don’t feel too sorry for the 10-time world champ in four weight divisions. With Golden Boy Promotions the industry leader, the company will be solvent for years to come.

The same, however, couldn’t be said for De La Hoya, who landed 21 percent of his punches (83 of 402), 13 percent of his jabs (32 of 238), 31 percent of his power punches (51 of 164), and was taken to a local hospital as a precaution after suffering the worst loss in his distinguished 17-year-career.

Then again, the last few years haven’t been kind to De La Hoya (39-6-0 and 30 knockouts), who once had brilliant hand speed and extraordinary footwork.

In May at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, De La Hoya won a unanimous decision over lightly-regarded Steve Forbes.

Despite that, after the fight, De La Hoya had obvious puffiness around his eyes. He even looked slow, and couldn’t floor the heavy underdog.

Mind you, this was against Forbes, who would never be compared to a world-class fighter like Pacquiao (48-3-2 and 36 KO’s).

A year earlier at the same MGM Grand Garden ring, De La Hoya had a close bout with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., for the World Boxing Council super welterweight belt, but walked away losing a split decision.

That night, De La Hoya started quickly, winning four or perhaps five of the first six rounds, only to fade in the second half.

On Saturday, after eight rounds, Judges Dave Moretti and Adalaide Byrd each had Pacquiao ahead, 80-71, while Stanley Christodoulou favored Pacquiao, 79-72. Diamondboxing.com. scored the bout in favor of Pacquiao, 78-73.

This time, from the opening bell, the quicker and better-conditioned Pacquiao, who has held world titles in four weight classes, was the aggressor, throwing stiff right-hand jabs, followed by darting lefts that continued to find De La Hoya’s face and midsection.

Covering the final three rounds, the 29-year-old Pacquiao connected with 97 punches, while De La Hoya answered with 21.

The seventh round was the tipping point, as Pacquiao, the Filipino hero, threw head and body shots seemingly at will, and had De La Hoya in the corner over much of the three minutes. It wasn’t until the final 30 seconds or so that the East Los Angeles-native answered with his own material.

Over the course of eight rounds, Pacquiao, who landed 38 percent of his punches (224 of 585), 59 percent of his power punches (195 of 333), and 12 percent of his jabs (29 of 252), minimized De La Hoya’s four-inch height and five-inch reach advantage.

These numbers, and De La Hoya’s 20 percent bigger body size, enlisted him a 2-to-1 opening-line favorite. The line dropped significantly in the days prior to the fight.

In retrospect, the younger and faster boxer prevailed. Anyone who saw Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard at the end of their Hall of Fame careers can vouch for this.

Or as Babe Ruth, baseball’s one-time home run king put it at the close of his brilliant career: “Getting old is hell.” De La Hoya knows that feeling.

FULL DREAM MATCH JOURNEY STARTING WITH THEIR TAKE OFF FROM HOUSTON 

 

 

 

  

  

 

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