By Manuel Perez: In watching some of the sparring sessions for this Saturday’s mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya, I go to say that I don’t see Pacquiao having much, if any, chance at beating De La Hoya. The added weight that Pacquiao has put on his small frame, some 12 pounds, has had the effect of making him slower, less mobile than he was at the lighter weight classes. At the same time, he remains what he was before – namely a small, 5’6″ fighter, trying to mix it up with a much bigger 5’11” De La Hoya.
Though Pacquiao has a reputation for hurting people in the super featherweight division, his punches won’t have nearly the same effect against De La Hoya, whom has been fighting as a light middleweight for the past seven years and is accustomed to taking punches from much bigger fighters than the 130 pound Pacquiao.
It’s all well and good that Pacquiao will be coming into the fight at roughly the same weight as De La Hoya, but the added weight that Pacquiao put on won’t translate to him hitting any harder than he ever did as a super featherweight. In truth, he’ll probably punch a lot less harder than he did previously and will still be the equivalent of a super featherweight fighting a light middleweight.
If he put on weight slowly over time, then maybe he would have the chance of bringing a little more power into this fight, but that’s not the case here. Even if he did, though, he’s so short, I doubt that he would be any more powerful than someone small like Ricky Hatton.
I’m not about to give Hatton a chance against De La Hoya, and he’s probably a much harder puncher than Pacquiao can ever hope to be. De La Hoya doesn’t even need to punch hard to beat Pacquiao. With his long reach, he can simply keep Pacquiao at the end of his jab all night long, clinch him when he gets in close and shove him when he gets crowded at times.
Pacquiao, without being able to reach the taller De La Hoya, will be totally neutralized, and totally helpless to stop him from controlling the fight from the outside. Pacquiao, 29, has never fought anyone close to being as big and as skilled as De La Hoya, with, perhaps, the closest thing coming to him being 5’8″ Erik Morales, who gave Pacquiao fits in their first fight, beating the Filipino star by a 12-round decision.
If not for his weight problems that plagued him in subsequent fights, thus leaving Morales weight drained and weak, he may have very well have beaten Pacquiao twice more. In contrast, De La Hoya is much bigger than Morales, quicker and won’t be coming into the fight as weight drained as Morales. As such, look for De La Hoya to easily win this fight.
Prediction: De La Hoya by unanimous decision.
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