Boxing Profiles: Oscar De La Hoya vs Manny Pacquiao
Friday, November 21, 2008
Come December 6 in Las Vegas, Oscar De La Hoya vs Manny Pacquiao will likely be the biggest pay-per-view boxing event in the history of the sport. Both fighters are legends in the sport and the fight will be an absolute classic.
Manny Pacquiao
Born: December 17th, 1978
Place: Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines
Manny Pacquiao is widely regarded by pundits and online betting sharps to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He has tore up any boxer in his path including a complete destruction of a who's who in Mexican boxing history. But his upcoming fight on December 6th figures to be his most difficult challenge to date: Oscar De La Hoya serves as a big step up in weight for Pacquiao as the fight will be at the 147-pound weight class.
For Pacquiao, this is a step up in two weight classes and a lot of people who bet on sports aren't sure that he'll be able to handle that. For his weight class, Pacquiao has an uncanny combination of power and speed but both of those might not factor since he's fighting a bigger fighter with more weight. Sports book odds list Pacquiao as a huge underdog for that reason. If he can make the adjustment, though, he should be to defeat De La Hoya, who is past his prime.
Oscar De La Hoya
Born: February 4th, 1973
Place: East Los Angeles, California
Oscar De La Hoya is a favorite for this fight according to sports book odds, which is considered to be the fight of the year by many. At one point in his career, De La Hoya was considered among the best fighters in the world and he'll still likely be a Hall of Famer, but he has been stumbling and bumbling of late. De La Hoya is just 3-3 in his last six fights with decision losses to Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosely, and a knockout loss to Bernard Hopkins. His three wins were against scrubs like Ricardo Mayorga, Steve Forbes and Felix Sturm.
De La Hoya isn't as fast as he used to be and he has two things have to work in his favor for him to win this fight. For starters, his size means that he should have the advantage in punching power and he should be able to take any of Pacquiao's power shots. And secondly, he still has to be as fast as Pacquiao - or comparably close - because Pacquiao is gaining lots of weight for this fight. If De La Hoya can win in both of those areas, he should be able to win the fight.