Will Pacman win over De la Hoya?

When Oscar De La Hoya speaks, the entire boxing world listens.

After several weeks of speculation and media driven frenzy, De La Hoya finally announced his next opponent will be Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao, despite grumblings from the boxing world about that choice.

The 10-time world champion from East Los Angeles said he will fight WBC lightweight titleholder Pacquiao because of his status among the media as the best boxer pound-for-pound and his conquests of three of Mexico's greatest boxers.
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Experts wonder if lightweight Manny Pacquiao, called the best boxer pound-for-pound, can really handle Oscar De La Hoya.

"People are talking that Manny Pacquiao can beat me," De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) said during a media conference call. "When Freddie Roach started saying, 'Oscar can't pull the trigger' or 'Manny Pacquiao, the fighter I trained can beat you,' it started to become a challenge to me."

De La Hoya and Pacquiao will meet Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, a bout that's expected to sell out the arena and bring in more than 1.5 million pay-per-views.

Pacquiao, who has risen from the 112-pound flyweight division as a champion to capture the world titles in the super bantamweight, junior lightweight and lightweight divisions, now faces a former pound-for-pound champion who is five inches taller and fights three divisions higher in weight -- a disparity of 19 pounds.

Both boxers have made concessions for the fight. De La Hoya is dropping to 147 pounds and Pacquiao moving up. Both will fight with eight-ounce gloves, the glove weight Pacquiao normally uses. De La Hoya has used 10-ounce gloves for eight years.

"I think I can beat De La Hoya especially after I saw his last performance on the last fight," said Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs). "I think I'm faster and stronger than him and I'm younger."

In Pacquiao's last fight, he destroyed former WBC lightweight titleholder David Diaz with blistering speed and powerful combinations.

"Manny will knock out Oscar," said Roach, who trained De La Hoya for the Floyd Mayweather fight last year and now trains Pacquiao. "You can put Oscar's right hand in his pocket. It's useless."

De La Hoya captured the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and proceeded to win world titles in the junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight divisions.

"Size isn't going to be that much of a big difference," De La Hoya said. "I understand the relentless style that Manny has. I understand the speed he has. So for me, as a 35-year-old fighter, it really is a big challenge for me."

Experts don't all agree that it's a big challenge.

Riverside's Henry Ramirez, who trains heavyweight contender Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola and Josesito Lopez, said the pairing doesn't make a sporting sense, only money sense.

"You have a guy (Pacquiao) who barely beat Juan Manuel Marquez and he's going to fight a junior middleweight?" said Ramirez. "Here is a guy (De La Hoya) who fought Fernando Vargas, Bernard Hopkins and Felix Trinidad and now he's relegated to fighting Pacquiao, who is a great fighter but there are other guys he (De La Hoya) could have fought -- like Antonio Margarito."

Boxing writer Steve Kim, of Maxboxing.com, favors Pacquiao because of the Filipino's speed and De La Hoya's injuries suffered against Steve Forbes last May.

"The 2008 version of De La Hoya is not the 1998 version, that's why I think this fight can be competitive," said Kim, who has followed both boxers from early in their careers. "Many think it's a circus act. But being ringside and watching Steve Forbes do some work, I saw Oscar did not have the reflexes or the quickness anymore."

The event is expected to be the most watched event of the year and will be co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank.

"This fight has world-wide implications," Top Rank's Bob Arum said.

By DAVID A. AVILA
Special to The Press-Enterprise