De La Hoya/Pacquiao set

**nameless44** · Posted On: 8/27/2008 7:52pm

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...,198747.column

The biggest boxing match in years will, indeed, take place. Oscar De La Hoya has agreed to a Dec. 6 match with rising superstar Manny Pacquiao.

The official announcement, barring last-minute reversals, will be made in a conference call Thursday morning.

The match, the grand finale of 35-year-old De La Hoya's unprecedented career as the box-office king in a sport that has survived on his back for more than 10 years without a dominant heavyweight, will be held at the MGM Grand Hotel Garden in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view will be available on HBO.

Ten days ago, Richard Schaefer, De La Hoya's partner in the operation of Golden Boy Promotions, and Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank had announced that negotiations for the much-anticipated fight had broken down and it would not take place. Schaefer and De La Hoya wanted a 70-30% split of receipts, which would include a projected 2-million-plus pay-per-view buys. Arum and Pacquiao had balked and the deal was off.

In the interim, as recently as two days ago, stories had appeared that the front-runner to replace Pacquiao on De La Hoya's farewell card was promoter Dan Goossen's Paul Williams, who had a victory over Antonio Margarito. Margarito, who is from Mexico, was the recent surprise winner over Miguel Cotto in a fight that was to set up De La Hoya's next opponent.

But when Margarito won, that took the Puerto Rican Cotto out of the picture and De La Hoya had said all along that he did not want his farewell fight to be against a fellow Mexican. De La Hoya, of Mexican heritage, was raised in East Los Angeles and won an Olympic gold medal for the United States.

But the Williams talks apparently were mostly wishful thinking, and De La Hoya agreed to drop his percentage of the take in a Pacquiao bout to a two-thirds/one-third arrangement.

They will fight at 147 pounds.

Pacquiao, 29, the most celebrated and recognized athlete in the Philippines, has won titles at five lower weights and is more comfortable around 136-140 pounds. De La Hoya has won multiple titles and is more comfortable around 154.

The largest pay-per-view fight in boxing history was the 2007 match between De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., won by the now-retired Mayweather. That drew 2.4 million buys. De La Hoya previously was involved in the largest non-heavyweight pay-per-view fight when he suffered his first loss, in 1999, against Felix Trinidad.

De La Hoya will take a record of 39-5 with 30 knockouts into the fight. Pacquiao's record is 47-3-2, with 35 knockouts.

This should be a fairly interesting bout between these two.

**Raging Monkey** · Posted On: 8/27/2008 9:11pm

Pacquiao is silly for taking this fight... the natural weight disparity between the two is too much imo to make this a compelling fight.

**nameless44** · Posted On: 8/27/2008 10:03pm

Disagree, the kind of money he's gonna make off this is insane, not to mention the kind of feather in his cap that being able to claim that he retired De La Hoya provides makes it a win-win situation for Pacquiao.

**Scott Larson** · Posted On: 8/27/2008 10:47pm

Even though Pacquiao has a disadvantage, he's got the heart to pull an upset.

**theword** · Posted On: 8/27/2008 11:45pm

DLH didn't look amazing against Steve Forbes and Manny ripped through Diaz...I don't know, if I were to bet I'd probably go with Oscar but I think Manny can and will make an exciting fight out of it.

**SoulMechanic** · Posted On: 8/28/2008 1:32am

Get real guys, Manny has no chance at whooping a guy who looks this good in heals.

**Eddie Hardon** · Posted On: 8/28/2008 5:46am

Ignoring the picture (which is blocked in the Office) this is a mouth-watering prospect. Oscar has been fantastic (there's a great pic of him almost literally head-to-head with Arturo Gatti in the Budd Schulberg book - just got it last week) throughout his career.

PacMan has been terrific in this last couple of fights (which have been aired on SETANTA in the UK) and the boxing press have been speculating on his fighting Ricky Hatton.

Hmm, Oscar seems to have stacked the deck. He's much the taller and will be much the heavier. Manny will have to trade on his fighting Heart and accept punishment to get to Oscar's ribs and reach his Head. This could be a very intelligent match-up on Oscar's part. OTOH, he's now 35 and this is more of a Tester for the lower weights.

I'll have to think about this a bit. Also I never saw Oscar's fight against Forbes as it wasn't shown in the UK. He doesn't lack for courage, though, and has never played safe.

Hmm, Oscar. Height and Weight - just as it hurt him in the fight with Hopkins.

**Gabetuno** · Posted On: 8/28/2008 7:37am

It WOULD be an awesome fight if they could get rid of those fucking 58oz gloves! For **** sakes, they might as well tape pillows to their hands! Remember when boxing was compelling? Check out the glove sizes. It was actually possible to hurt your opponent with out being a 6'4" he-man.

I'm not MMA nutriding, I just really miss the 10oz gloves god damnit.

**theword** · Posted On: 8/28/2008 9:53am

^
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it standard with all the sanctioning bodies that fighters use 8oz up to Jr. Middleweight and 10oz past that?

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 9/24/2008 3:57pm

De La Hoya hires trainer for December fight vs. Pacquiao

Veteran boxing trainer Nacho Beristain will prepare Oscar De La Hoya for his Dec. 6 fight with Manny Pacquiao, the Golden Boy confirmed Tuesday.

De La Hoya went in search of a new trainer three weeks ago after Floyd Mayweather Sr., his longtime cornerman, agreed to train Ricky Hatton for his Nov. 22 bout with Paulie Malignaggi. Mayweather accepted the job before De La Hoya finalized his 147-pound fight at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas against Pacquiao, generally considered the sport's top pound-for-pound fighter.

Beristain is a Boxing Hall of Famer who trained Juan Manuel Marquez for both of his acclaimed bouts against Pacquiao over the past four years. He also trains Rafael Marquez, Juan Manuel's brother and a talented super bantamweight whose three thrill-packed fights with Israel Vazquez comprise one the best rivalries in recent boxing history.

"Nacho Beristain is a great trainer who I have respected for many years, and I'm honoured to have him in my corner," De La Hoya said. "Considering that he prepared Juan Manuel Marquez for two fights against Manny Pacquiao, he knows him very well. I'm confident that with Nacho's game plan and my execution, we'll be victorious on Dec. 6."

Beristain is the third trainer in the last three fights for De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs), the biggest star in boxing. He worked with Freddie Roach in his split-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May 2007, and Mayweather Sr. returned to his corner for his victory over Steve Forbes last May.

Roach is Pacquiao's longtime trainer, and his public pronouncements about the Filipino star's superiority convinced De La Hoya to make the fight, which is certain to be the sport's most lucrative bout this year.

The elder Mayweather has been De La Hoya's trainer since 2000, except for the Golden Boy's fight against his son. De La Hoya considered sharing Mayweather Sr. with Hatton, who fights for his Golden Boy Promotions company, if both fighters could hold training camp in the same location.

But De La Hoya instead chose Beristain, who has trained a long line of Mexican champions, including Ricardo Lopez, Gilberto Roman, Daniel Zaragoza and Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez.

"Oscar De La Hoya is one of the premier fighters of this era, and I am excited about working with him for this very important fight," Beristain said. "I already have a plan in mind for beating Pacquiao, and I know Oscar will do whatever it takes to carry that plan through on fight night."

De La Hoya had long planned to end his boxing career with his final fight of 2008. But after he failed to replace the retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. with a suitable opponent for a proposed bout in September, the Golden Boy all but confirmed his fight with Pacquiao won't be his last.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/504995

I like watching Pacquiao, I may actually make the effort to see this fight!