De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao

Pacquiao took the W at the end of the 7th round when De La Hoya said he could not continue because Pacman was "too fast". The Filipino was, in fact, too fast. The shorter southpaw was too unconventional (see: New School), his hand-speed too quick. De La Hoya brought in plenty of amazing trainers to come in, but he had too many and they were too conversed in the older approach to training. Fighters of today have much more resilience, better conditioning and more energy. Freddie Roach had the right idea that speed would be the defining factor in deciding the victor. The Pacquiao vs. Diaz fight was nearly the same. Diaz said "he's just too fast!"

Manny Pacquiao is a durable fighter- one who can take a beating, preserve his energy and release havoc when he feels necessary. De La Hoya couldn't hold up- he falls back on dealing punishment in the fight and hopes to finish them early. A strategy for the De La Hoya camp was to stand tall. It would exploit the only real weakness Manny had- being shorter. I that I think if De La Hoya's reach was longer, he would've had greater confidence and would've landed more punches.

From the start of the fight to the end of the 7th round, Oscar could not keep up with the Filipino fury. He didn't seem to have his head in the game after actually exchanging a few punches. Great fight. These two didn't give their footings at all.


Thank you for passing the torch Oscar. Manny will definitely carry it with pride.