Saturday, August 30, 2008 David vs Goliath By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
IT'S going to be David vs Goliath when Filipino star Manny Pacquiao fights Mexican hero Oscar "Golden Boy" De La Hoya on December 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But, can Pacquiao defeat De La Hoya come fight night just like what David did when he beat Goliath during the biblical times?
Only Pacquiao knows and he himself can provide the answer when he steps into the ring the smaller fighter against the bigger boxer De La Hoya in a dream match and the best boxing fight in years.
De La Hoya and Pacquiao agreed to fight at 147 pounds in a 12-round non-title showdown yet a lucrative one with a guaranteed prize of $100 million.
Although he is assured of the biggest paycheck of his professional boxing career in agreeing to fight De La Hoya, Pacquiao will come in as the heavy underdog considering the Mexican's tremendous physical advantage.
De La Hoya, who won a gold for the US in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, stands at 5-foot-11 while Pacquiao is only 5-foot-7 for a four-inch advantage over the Filipino warrior. This, aside from that fact that the Mexican also has a five to six-inch edge in reach.
Pacquiao, the punching machine from General Santos City, is also moving up 12 pounds to face De La Hoya and had only fought at 135 pounds once, when he beat David Diaz months ago for the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight crown.
De La Hoya won a world title belt at 160-pound weight class, while Pacquiao captured one in the 112-pound class and started fighting at 106 pounds.
Both De La Hoya and Pacquiao are knockout artists. The Mexican, a six-time world champion, has a record of 39-5-0 with 30 KOs, while Pacquiao, a four time world titlist, holds an equally impressive slate of 47-3-2 with 35 KOs.
But, in signing up to fight Pacquiao, who is much, much smaller compared to his size, De La Hoya drew criticisms from boxing experts.
The Golden Boy, however, simply shrugged them off.
"A lot of people are going to be very surprised when we're standing next to each other," said De La Hoya, who weighed just over 150 pounds last week. "Size isn't going to be that much of a difference."
De La Hoya said he got extra motivation for the fight from Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's longtime trainer who filled in for Floyd Mayweather Sr. in De La Hoya's corner last year.
Roach was eager to see Pacquiao take the fight, saying Pacquiao was too quick for the 35-year-old Golden Boy.
"I felt challenged, especially from an expert trainer like that," De La Hoya said. "He knows my style, and he knows Manny's, and for him to say that was a big challenge."
Pacquiao knows the fight is going to be dangerous for him, but he fears one and his decision came as no surprise, particularly to the Filipino fans.
"I know everybody thinks this fight will be difficult for me. I know some people say it's a very easy fight for Oscar, but I always do my job in the ring, and I'll do my best to give a good fight and to win this fight," said Pacquiao, who claims he is much faster and stronger than De La Hoya.
There's no question as to his speed and power, but Pacquiao must be at the top of his game in fighting a much bigger and hard punching fighter in De La Hoya.
Otherwise, this could be the Filipino boxer's Waterloo. (With AP)
