We do need heroes. Not heroes as historical abstractions, like Bonifacio and his bolo, or an amorphous mass like the Filipino OFW, but contemporary flesh-and-blood champions we can put a face to, no matter how homely. Like Manny Pacquiao.

And we need to mythologize our heroes, to make them larger-than-life. And Pacquiao fits the bill perfectly. He provides drama and pageantry to our drab lives. He has lived the beloved, age-old, near-universal narrative of the poor boy who makes good. By dint of sheer guts, hard work, resilience and, yes, faith in a higher power, he managed to achieve fame, wealth and glory. He literally had nothing but the shirt off his back when he started out as a boxer and through his God-given talent and determination, a bit of luck and the (not always altruistic ) kindness of strangers, he has scaled almost unimaginable heights. It helps that he’s so demonstrative of his religous beliefs (apparently authentic), which Pinoys love.

Heroes flesh out our fantasies and this is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as we remain grounded. Obviously, not everyone can be a Manny Pacquiao. He’s one in eighty million. But he can serve as an inspiration and a symbol of what we can achieve as individuals, if not as a nation.

Not to worry, though. He will soon enough be brought down from his pedestal. The fate of all demigods is to be revealed as having feet of clay. He will go the way of Oscar De La Hoya in his own time. Meanwhile, there’s nothing wrong in celebrating the all too fleeting victories of a true champion.

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The streets and malls, usually crowded on a weekend nearing Christmas, was eerily serene and devoid of the usual hordes. It was like Holy Week, but with even less people. Everyone was indoors or clustered around radios, waiting for The Fight to begin. The perfect time to shop, my wife and daughter thought, correctly, while I desperately looked around for a resto or sports bar to catch the action. I just followed the roar of the crowd, just in time to catch the last two rounds, with Pacquiao pummeling a hapless De La Hoya, who looked just about ready to buckle. He still had some fight left in him, but being the level-headed businessman that he is, saw no gain in prolonging the agony. He threw in the towel just before the start of the ninth round, to the delirious joy of the company at Friday’s, everyone high-fiving and toasting the masterful submission of the Golden Boy orchestrated by Manny Pacquiao and his team.

I was especially pleased, having predicted a late round (9-12) knockout for Pacquiao. I came pretty close since Oscar De La Hoya, his left eye nearly closed shut by Manny’s relentless right hooks, finished the eighth round but did not have the heart to go the distance. He had the good sense to quit though, and deserves credit for doing the right thing, which is being man enough to admit when you’re beat.

All Golden Boys lose their glow, and Oscar knew this. But he miscalculated and believed it wasn’t yet his time to ride off into the sunset. And he thought, cynically, that this would be an easy payday. Manny Pacquiao was smaller, shorter and a slugger, no match for a bigger, heavier, finesse fighter like the Golden Boy. He had the reach, he had the speed, he had cunning and artfulness to punish the brawler from the Philippines. And many others thought so too, so much so that Pacman came in a 2-1 underdog.

And Oscar had the guile and the moxie to demand almost three times the purse Manny was to get. No matter. He was the bigger draw and knew it. All Manny wanted was a shot at a legend. They both got more than they bargained for.

With this convincing win, Manny’s stock has risen dramatically, having dispatched a boxing icon, and he can dictate who, and when, he wants to fight next. And for how much. He has also assured himself of a place in the pantheon of boxing greats.

As for De La Hoya, this fight would likely be his swan song, an ignoble end to one of the most storied boxing careers of the past two decades. It was a classic story of hubris and deep down in his heart, Oscar knew it would end badly for him. Which explains why he looked so grim in the weeks leading up to the fight. Manny Pacquiao was about to escort him to the exit.

Kevin Iole writes about the dawn of the Pacquiao era.

Pacquiao displayed every punch in the arsenal, raking the Golden Boy with straight lefts that nearly closed De La Hoya’s left eye and stunning him with hooks, jabs and uppercuts.

It was so savage of a beating that it was hard not to feel sorry for De La Hoya. At the end of the bout, a thoroughly beaten De La Hoya trudged across the ring and met his one-time trainer, Freddie Roach.

“You’re right,” De La Hoya said to Roach, who had prepared Pacquiao brilliantly. “I don’t have it any more.”

Pacquiao was never threatened by De La Hoya’s vaunted left hook, negating De La Hoya’s best chance of winning the fight.

It was something Roach had worked tirelessly on in the gym and something he unwaveringly told the world that Pacquiao would do.

“Taking the left hand away was a key,” Roach said. “We took Oscar’s left hand away from him and once we did that, the fight was over.”

Pacquiao called De La Hoya his idol and said he was honored to have had the opportunity to face him. But he didn’t spare his idol any pain, working his plan like a hired gun.

“It was nothing personal,” Pacquiao said. “I just came to do my job.”

This was the boxing rite of passage that has become all too familiar over the years. It happened to Joe Louis against Rocky Marciano, to Muhammad Ali against Larry Holmes and to Julio Cesar Chavez against De La Hoya.

A younger, faster and better man snuffed out the star of one of the game’s all-time greats.

But De La Hoya didn’t have that one last great fight left and was forced to accept a beating as the final act of a Hall of Fame career.

Oscar De La Hoya is the past.

It’s Pacquiao’s time now.

Pacquiao VS De la Hoya from aeirin on Vimeo.
(Credits of the Streaming video From Aerin)

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Sour grapes ? Perhaps. Barrera recently bolted De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions due to money differences. But the cynics among us, and there are plenty, agree with him. Oscar is just too big, as I pointed out a few months ago. WBC president Jose Sulaiman pooh-poohed the whole affair:

What are they going to do? Stuff Manny with tamales and beans, and reduce Oscar in the steam bath to bring them together? It’s ridiculous. It’s absurd. It’s a fraud to the public. The only reason why the fight was made was money.

Sulaiman seems to have forgotten that Pacquiao isn’t Mexican and tamales and beans will likely just give him gas. But you get the picture.

Not surprisingly, Manny is coming in as the clear underdog, as the size differential is dramatic. Aside from heft (up to 20 lbs. more on fight night), ODLH has significantly longer reach. Manny may have an edge, age-wise, but that advantage is easily offset by Oscar’s wiliness and years of experience. It seems obvious that Pacman will be pummeled if he goes toe-to-toe against the Golden Boy. Which is what Oscar wants to happen.

De La Hoya will want to bring the fight to Manny and force him to trade punches. A close-in brawl will be to his advantage and he won’t allow Pacquiao to dance out of danger. He’d also want to put Manny away early, as a marathon fight would favor the younger man. In fact, he predicts that he can put Manny away in five. Pacman will rely on his speed and agility in dealing body blows to De La Hoya, before giving him a punch or two to the head and exploding out of the clinch. He’s got to stay away from Oscar’s deadly jabs. And his wicked left hook.

But like I said before, in the end, it will come down to heart, which both have plenty of. Manny will be fighting the biggest bout of his life, a “career-changing event”, as they say. Oscar will die fighting to protect the Golden Boy legend.

My fearless forecast: Manny by knockout in the later rounds (between rounds 9 to 12). Nothing scientific about it. Just rooting for the Pinoy underdog.

One noticeable thing though is that Manny appears more relaxed and confident. He’s smiling like the cat which swallowed the canary. Oscar seems tense and tight. This could bear on their psychological condition on the big night, with the more loose, adaptable and spontaneous fighter at an advantage.

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Manny works out at the Wild Card gym.

The Golden Boy is predicting that he can knock out Manny Pacquiao in five rounds or less in their blockbuster fight on December 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Reacting to Pacquiao trainer Freddy Roach’s comments that Manny will put De La Hoya away by knockout in nine rounds, Oscar said:

We’ll catch him in five so we don’t go that far. I think whoever catches who first is going down.

De La Hoya was interviewed in his isolated training camp in in Big Bear, California where the high altitude is helping him build up his wind, critical in a drawn-out fight with a younger, aggressive fighter. In contrast, Pacquiao is at Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Gym, right in the heart of Hollywood. Not good, as Pacquiao is notoriously prone to distractions. With barely three weeks to go before fight day, he has to sustain his focus.

And while I’m rooting for Pacquiao, De La Hoya has a clear advantage over the smaller man, despite the age differential.

The added poundage from moving up two weight classes to make welterweight might slow Pacman down. Oscar might weaken from his reducing regimen by weigh-in, although he’ll bounce back by fight day, after being rehydrated. Bottom line, the weight difference of 15-20 pounds will remain in De La Hoya’s favor.

Pacman will likely employ hit-and-run tactics, avoiding squaring off against the bigger man. He’ll possibly go for body blows and combination shots to the head, once Oscar opens up. After delivering his punches, he’ll need to explode out of the clinch. This will be his most “defensive” fight, as he must be masterful in catching, blocking or parrying the expected flurry of sharp jabs from his heavier, longer-reached opponent.

De La Hoya will want to bring the fight to Manny and force him to trade punches. A close-in brawl will be to his advantage and he won’t allow Pacquiao to dance out of danger. And as he said, he wants to put Manny away early, as a marathon fight would be to the younger man’s advantage. Hence, his prediction that the fight won’t go beyond five rounds.

In the end, it will come down to heart, which both have plenty of. Manny will be fighting the biggest bout of his life, a “career-changing event”, as they say. Oscar will die fighting to protect the Golden Boy legend. According to De La Hoya, it will be an explosive fight, as both fighters don’t intend the brawl to go the full 12 rounds.

Meanwhile, the public response to what has been touted as the richest fight in boxing history has been less than overwhelming, in view of the sad state of the U.S. economy, prompting promoter Bob Arum to admit:

I’m sitting here biting my nails on a fight I thought was a slam dunk. I won’t get crushed but all I want to do is pull this fight off.

The U.S. financial crisis appears about to claim another victim.

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The tale of the tape doesn’t say it all, and reveals only the more superficial aspects of this much-anticipated clash of titans.

De La Hoya

Ht. – 5’10.5”
Wt. – 150 lb.
Reach – 73”
Age – 35

Pacquiao

Ht. – 5’6.5”
Wt. – 135 lb.
Reach – 67”
Age – 29

Manny is clearly the underdog, as the size differential is dramatic. Aside from heft, ODLH has significantly longer reach. Manny may have an edge, age-wise, but that advantage is easily offset by Oscar’s wiliness and years of experience. It seems obvious that Pacman will be pummeled if he goes toe-to-toe against the Golden Boy.

As for power and speed, both fighters have proven themselves to be outstanding in that regard. Trainer Freddy Roach believes Manny’s quickness and punching ability, in full display during his WBC lightweight championship victory over David Diaz, will serve him in good stead. Perhaps, but De La Hoya is no slouch in that department either, with his flashing long jabs and deadly left cross. 30 of his 39 wins were by KOs.

On speculation that Oscar is over the hill, or as Roach puts it, he “can’t pull the trigger anymore”, this is simply not realistic. True, he may have lost three of his last six bouts over the last five years (including the last one against Floyd Mayweather, Jr.) but he’s far from being a “Golden Girl”. He’s made a career of trouncing fighters waaay bigger and stronger than Pacman and his loss to Mayweather was by split decision. He’s still in good, if not top, form and his physical gifts are far superior to Pacquiao’s (and I’m not talking about his face).

So as to the question of who is the better fighter, on paper it’s De La Hoya by a wide margin.

But as to who will be the better fighter on December 6 is another matter. It will all come down to strategy, the small details and the intangibles.

They both have to bridge the weight disparity to make welterweight, Pacquiao going up by about 10 lbs. and De La Hoya giving up 10-15 lbs. from his present optimum fighting weight. The added poundage might slow Pacman down. Oscar might weaken from his reducing regimen by weigh-in, although he’ll bounce back by fight day, after being rehydrated. Bottom line, the weight difference of 15-20 pounds will remain in De La Hoya’s favor.

Pacman will likely employ hit-and-run tactics, avoiding squaring off against the bigger man. Roach promises the “sharpest fight plan” of Manny’s career. He’ll possibly go for body blows and combination shots to the head, once Oscar opens up. After delivering his punches, he’ll need to explode out of the clinch. This will be his most “defensive” fight, as he must be masterful in catching, blocking or parrying the expected flurry of sharp jabs from his longer-reached opponent.

De La Hoya will want to bring the fight to Manny and force him to trade punches. A close-in brawl will be to his advantage and he won’t allow Pacquiao to dance out of danger. He’d also want to put Manny away early, as a marathon fight would be to the younger man’s advantage.

In the end, it will come down to heart, which both have plenty of. Manny will be fighting the biggest bout of his life, a “career-changing event”, as they say. Oscar will be giving the boxing world his swan song, and he will die fighting to protect the Golden Boy legend.

An interesting sidelight is Manny’s mouthing off this early. Said he with a laugh:

I will frustrate the desire of Oscar De La Hoya to avenge the defeats of the great Mexican boxers who lost to me. I am dedicating this forthcoming fight to my countrymen and all the boxing fans all over the world. Don’t worry.

Smart move to ensure that ODLH doesn’t back out now. If he does, he’ll look bad. As I pointed out, it’s a win-win proposition for Pacquiao. In contrast, some Golden Boy fans believe that this is a lose-lose situation for De La Hoya. Blogger Dave “Large” Larzellare bewails that Oscar seems to have painted himself into a corner:

To my mind, the Pacquiao fight is the same scenario with the entire sports community at large. Because of the size difference between him and Manny, and because that will be THE headline of this fight above all others, if he loses he’ll look terrible, and if he wins, it will be like, “well, of course he won, he’s the bigger man BY FAR.” There’s no upside for him whatsoever, absolutely nothing for De La Hoya to gain out of this bout but a big payday. At this stage of the game, I’m shocked that he’s still on the “if it makes dollars, it makes sense” tip. He’s made so many dollars, if he wanted to the guy could afford to make his own sense. Instead, he’s taking the easy way out of his own career.

It’s all about the money, Dave.

Pacman fans see “shock knockout” win.

Trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr., in explaining why he’s not training De La Hoya for the fight, says that Pacquiao is sure to lose.

Ain’t no way Pacquiao can beat Oscar. No way. Oscar doesn’t need me to beat Pacquiao. He really doesn’t. For this fight, Oscar can beat Pacquiao with just about anyone training him. When he hits him with that first left hook, it’s all going to be over. So, I’ll be honest, Oscar doesn’t need to pay the price to get me in this fight, because he’ll win this with me or without me.

De La Hoya will adopt the counter-punching style of Juan Manuel Marquez against Manny, and will use his longer reach to full advantage.

Obviously I have to be smart. I have to use my jab. I have to be rangy in that ring, just the way Juan Manuel Marquez did against him both of their fights. He (Marquez) was using that long jab. He was using those long right hands. I just have to make sure that I have my hands up when Pacquiao comes in with that explosive style and his hard punches.

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The official announcement is set to be made in a few hours for what is estimated to be one of the richest purses in boxing history, to top U.S. $ 100 million. Pacquiao will most likely receive a lesser share of what the Golden Boy will get, but not that much smaller,and certainly more than Manny ever earned before, or will hope to earn in the near future. My guess is he will eventually cash in in the U.S. $ 30 million range, depending on the pay-for-view receipts.

This is a win-win situation for Manny, as even in the worst case that he loses, he gets his guaranteed purse and still has a career ahead of him. De La Hoya will then preserve his legend and ride off into the sunset. But if Manny wins, his stock raises dramatically, having dispatched a boxing icon, and he can dictate who, and when, he wants to fight next. And for how much. De La Hoya has a lot more to lose and there won’t be much pressure on Manny. Overall, a good deal for Pacquiao, win or lose.

See also: Pacquiao or De La Hoya: Who’s the better fighter ?

Pacquiao ready for Dela Hoya. Photo from boxingconfidential.com

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It wasn’t nearly as lopsided as the final score would seem to indicate. The Spaniards fought gallantly, and kept apace of the Americans with every basket and rebound, and the game went down the wire. This wasn’t a replay of the earlier blowout suffered by Spain in the hands of the U.S. during the eliminations. The Americans reached the finals with a 7-0 card and won by an average of 30 points. This was supposed to be a walk in the park. It wasn’t.

It was a two-point game early in the fourth quarter with a Pau Gasol dunk from an alley-oop and a Rudy Fernandez 3-pointer. The Gasol Brothers played like men possessed, and it looked as if the score would be close in the final minutes. It was.

The U.S. lead was only six with 1:44 left. Spain was within striking distance. It was finally Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol’s L.A. teammate, who put the game away with a drive and two free throws in the closing minute. The game was a classic.

The Americans’ sloppy defense almost let the gold slip away. They were overconfident, and the Spanish strategy was to stay close throughout and finish strong. Coach K looked relieved at the final buzzer. Dwayne Wade topscored with 27, while Kobe added 20.

For a quarter-by-quarter account, check out the NYT: BASKETBALL GOLD: U.S. 118, Spain 107

Rising Spanish 17-year old superstar Ricky Rubio, who created the biggest basketball buzz at these Olympics, was hardly a factor.

Is the Spanish basketball team racist ? The Guardian reports on its eye-catching faux pax.
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But now that I have your attention, let me get to the point of this post, which is to jump right into the inevitable finger-pointing bandwagon on our dismal showing in the Beijing Olympics. Not that medal shutouts are anything new to us. The country has failed to win a single medal in any of the past three Olympics (Sydney, Athens and now Beijing).

And with Mongolia winning its first gold at the 2008 Olympics (in judo), the Philippines now holds the dubious record for the most medals without a gold. Even war-torn Afghanistan managed to break into the medal tally.

It’s clearly not the fault our athletes, who have exhibited intense dedication and heart in going up against the world’s best. Neither is it ability, as we have shown talent aplenty in many athletic fields and endeavors, and continue to do so. And we have almost, almost, managed to crash into the Olympic gold medal column a number of times.

Neither is it genetics. Granted, there might be bases for the theory that some countries and/or peoples are physiologically or even culturally predisposed to excel in certain sports. The Kenyans in long-distance running, for example, or the Jamaicans in the sprint events, or the heavy-set Mongolians in grappling contests, like wrestling and judo. But by this reasoning, Pinoys have proven themselves to be masterful in sports where raw power is less a factor than speed, agility and cunning, like boxing. Yet our lone boxing bet lost in his very first elimination bout.

Nor is it just a matter of scant resources or an inadequate talent pool. Note that countries smaller, poorer or more politically-unstable than the Philippines, like Mongolia and war-ravaged Afghanistan, had no problem grabbing medals. Or in the case of Jamaica, a whole clutch of gold medallions.

It’s simple. Our failure to show is plainly a consequence of the corruption and blatant politicking so prevalent in all of our undertakings.

If only a fraction of the hundreds of millions lost to crooked deals, like the fertilizer fund scam, were given over for the training and sustenance of our athletes, they wouldn’t have to literally go begging for funds just to survive. They have to rely on the kindness of strangers and corporate sponsors just to get the proper gear and requisite international exposure. A fortunate few are well off enough to finance themselves. None but token help would be forthcoming from the government, which only promises a slew of rewards come competition time as a show of so-called “support”.

It’s been the same old story for so many decades. Our fractious national sports associations (NSAs) are less vehicles for the advancement of games and their athletes than platforms for political and financial aggrandizement. Scandal and strife are rampant. Even in basketball, which we can never even hope to dominate in a million years (even if we compete in Asia only), there are two competing NSAs, the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP). Talk about a house divided.

And maybe a sense of national commitment and pride is also lacking in us. It’s doesn’t appear to be a matter of national shame that we laid a big fat egg in Beijing. If we don’t give a shit, then we probably don’t deserve the gold.

So the title of this post doesn’t seem to be so far-fetched after all. At least Manny Pacquiao has proven himself to be truly world-class. He’s street smart and savvy and, from all indications, seems to be a true patriot. And he can’t possibly do any worse than what our supposed sports leaders have already done so far. Which is lead us nowhere.

And if you think I’m being overly pessimistic, check out the Wiki page and website of the Philippine Sports Commission, which is the government agency tasked to develop sports in the country. There’s literally nothing of substance there. Not a damn thing.

William “Butch” Ramirez, chair of the Philippine Sports Commission, calls for everyone to step down—including himself— who may be responsible for the sorry state of Philippine sports, specially the heads of NSAs. It’s about time. Too late to do us any good as far as this Olympics is concerned though.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is “not happy” with the country’s Olympic medal shutout in Beijing. As if she, and her inept minions, are not largely responsible for the whole mess in the first place.

Zero for us, while our neighbors bring home a bunch of medals.
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But misfortune also takes mere seconds to unfold. Behind the glitter and hoopla of the “greatest show on earth”, are tragedies which occur without warning, changing people’s lives forever. American tourist Todd Bachman, father of former UCLA All-American and 2004 volleyball Olympian Elisabeth “Wiz” Bachman McCutcheon, was killed while sightseeing in Beijing by a 47-year-old, knife-wielding Chinese assailant, who later committed suicide by leaping 130 feet from a balcony on the 13th-century Drum Tower, located 5 miles from the Olympic Games site. His wife was gravely injured, although Elisabeth was unharmed.

Surely one of the more poignant tales behind the Olympics is that of Chinese dancer Liu Yan, who was seriously injured during a rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic games just days before the show, and faces the prospect of being paralyzed for the rest of her life. Considered one of the country’s top classical Chinese dancers, Liu Yan, a graduate of the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy, was preparing for the performance of a lifetime: the only solo dance in a four-hour spectacular that was expected to be seen by a global audience of more than one billion people. During a rehearsal, she leaped toward a moving platform that malfunctioned and plunged about 10 feet into a shaft, landing on her back and breaking her spine.

According to the New York Times, her head was not badly injured, and she can move her arms. But she has no feeling below her chest, she said in a hospital bed interview. She cannot move her lower body, including her legs. Doctors have told her family it is unlikely she will ever walk again. During an interview in her hospital room, Liu was teary-eyed and said she was in disbelief about the accident.“I never imagined I could suffer such a tragedy,” she said. For a professional dancer, this seems a particularly cruel fate.

Organizers of the opening ceremony initially asked witnesses and friends not to disclose the accident ahead of the Olympic Games opening on August 8. Chinese authorities also sought to downplay the incident. For the most part, the state-run news media have not reported the accident, although the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official organ, mentioned it in a small article. Initial reports said Liu had missed a step and was slightly injured, and afterward all news of the accident disappeared.

Persistent inquries from Western media outfits, as well as stories circulating in the internet, forced the Olympic organizers to later admit to the incident. Now the Chinese media is full of weepy reports of bedside visits by Chinese officials, who now hail her as a heroine.

Buddhist teachings talk about “little deaths”, suggesting that every experience of change that we have is but a facet of the greatest of all transformative experiences – death. Even in the Beijing Olympics, death and grievous loss have managed to play a role, as backdrops for triumphs of the human spirit.

You Tube snippets of dances performed by Liu Yan.

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Pacquiao trainer Freddy Roach, explaining why he would choose Oscar de la Hoya over Humberto Soto for Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent, bluntly said that it’s all about the money:

I mean, what kind of (pay-per-view) PPV draw would that fight (Pacquiao-Soto ) be? We are missing the boat! Oscar has talked about fighting Manny. We can have Oscar make 147 lbs, and we can add another Mexican legend to Manny’s resume.

I am very surprised that he (Arum) hasn’t called me about this Soto situation. I asked Manny if Arum talked to him about Soto, and he told me ‘no.’ I asked Manny if he would like to fight De La Hoya, and he told me, ‘Of course,’ and he then asked me about the weight, and I told him we would make Oscar make 146 lbs, and we could make the fight.

If Steve Forbes can hit De La Hoya that easily, imagine what Manny Pacquiao will do to him.

He added that even a fight against Venezuelan knock-out artist Edwin Valero would be a tough sell for pay-per-view:

It’s a tough sell, a Soto versus Pacquiao. It’s not a PPV fight, it’s a free HBO fight if anything. Valero can only fight in one state, and all of his fights were in Japan, so that’s not a PPV fight either really. I would like to negotiate a Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya fight.

Bob Arum smells big bucks too and said in a radio interview that he will be discussing the match-up with Manny when he goes to Las Vegas for the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito fight this weekend.

Oscar De La Hoya is open to it too.

Neither is Pacquiao coy about wanting to face De La Hoya.

But isn’t this a possible case of overreach on the part of Manny ? De la Hoya may be past his prime, but he’s bigger, with a much longer reach. The latter is the more seasoned scrapper and fights with smarts and finesse. He can literally run rings around Manny.

Not that Pacquiao doesn’t have the skills to go against De La Hoya. But he’s basically a slugger, a brawler, a knockout artist, which Oscar can match with tremendous hand speed and considerable punching power of his own. 30 of De La Hoya’s 39 victories were by KO.

Consider further the fact that Pacquiao will have to go up to Oscar’s weight class, which could slow him down.

But as always, money will trump all other considerations. This could possibly be Pacquiao’s biggest payday. In his losing fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in 2007, De La Hoya got a whopping $55 million. Compare this to the $3 million Manny got recently for decking David Diaz. Manny easily stands to make tens of millions if the fight pushes through. For De La Hoya, meanwhile, a lot more is at stake than just the purse, as this will suppsedly be his last fight and he wants to preserve the Golden Boy legend.

One thing going for Pacquiao, though, is that Oscar has a lot more to lose, looks-wise, than him. This should make him fearless in going after De La Hoya’s smug mug.

International matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz believes that Filipino superstar Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao has a good chance of winning against six-division world champion Oscar “Golden Boy” de la Hoya if their proposed mega-fight pushes through this December. Per Lewkowicz, should the fight take place, Oscar has everything to lose, while the Filipino icon has “nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Negotiations ongoing for the De La Hoya – Pacquiao fight in December.

Pacquiao – De La Hoya superbout set for December 6.

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