'Mexicutioner' Pacquiao sees De La Hoya as next victim
Philippine boxer Manny Pacquiao hopes to extend his winning streak when he faces Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6. He plans to fight at short range to score points early and wear out his rival.
Topic No. 1 regarding Manny Pacquiao's decision to fight Oscar De La Hoya at 147 pounds is the jump in weight -- some 12 pounds greater than the Philippine star's current standing as world lightweight champion, and a staggering 41 pounds greater than Pacquiao's pro debut bout at 106 as a 17-year-old.
Pacquiao calls it a "nonissue."
"It's muscle, not fat," Pacquiao says, crediting training and nutrition techniques. "And I won't lose any speed. Speed can be developed in training, and that's what I'm doing."
Considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Pacquiao is walking around now near 150 pounds. He's buoyed by information from his trainer and promoters and is convinced he'll extend his current eight-fight winning streak that includes victories over Mexican stars Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez.
A computer study shows that in recent years De La Hoya's punch and jab rate steadily deteriorates after the sixth round in his fights. Longtime Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler drove in from Las Vegas to script with Pacquiao a strategy to beat the same fighter whose early career Trampler once so artfully directed.
Boxing followers have tabbed Pacquiao "The Mexicutioner" because of this winning streak, and Pacquiao is confidently promising De La Hoya, 35, will be the next to fall in their Dec. 6 fight.
"I think so," Pacquiao, 29, says, relaxing in his upscale Los Angeles apartment after a recent Hollywood gym training session. "He's not the good Oscar I saw before. He's still dangerous, but not as good as he was before."
Pacquiao will earn a guaranteed $11 million plus a possible pay-per-view percentage for the fight.
In training, Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 knockouts) has practiced counterpunching options to De La Hoya's famed left hook. His drills include stepping away from his opponent's left and firing combinations or multiple body shots. Pacquiao ducks a left to his head, then pounds two blistering punches to trainer Freddie Roach's body, flashing a trademark menacing glare as De La Hoya's scorned ex-trainer tells his star, "That's good. Always move."
Roach makes it clear he wants Pacquiao to avoid the Golden Boy's left, and the trainer knows his southpaw fighter packs a powerful left of his own -- one that will be helped by the use of smaller, 8-ounce gloves on fight night. Team Pacquiao has studied how De La Hoya's face puffed up in his last fight against Steve Forbes, and is confident its boxer can scuff him up even more.
