PACQUIAO-DE LA HOYA MATCH IS A FARCE

By Michael Swann

In a perfect world Oscar De La Hoya would be facing Antonio Margarito on December 6 in his farewell fight. Margarito, who had just won the WBA welterweight title from previously undefeated Miguel Cotto, is hands down the very best opponent from a competitive standpoint and could even fight at 150 pounds if Oscar was to so choose.

Oscar has faced the very best throughout his career-- Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley (twice) are examples of De La Hoya’s desire to mix it up with the best. Yes, he lost to them all, and the fact is that he has never beaten a premier fighter at their peak. So if safe to say that the odds would be stacked against him with Margarito as well, but he could proudly walk away from the ring saying, “I took them all on and I never ducked a tough fight.”

But that would be in a perfect world.

At one time Oscar was saying that he would never fight a Puerto Rican, such as Cotto, because he had promised his wife Millie, a Puerto Rican native. However, just prior to Margarito-Cotto, De La Hoya said that a fight with the winner would be a great way for him to go out.

Then Oscar said that he didn’t want to fight a Mexican because he didn’t want to upset his Mexican-American fans. That, at least for the time being, ended the hopes of the Tijuana resident Margarito.

When Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Margarito, mentioned this in a room of reporters, the remark was met with laughter. When a young, prime Oscar De La Hoya beat up Mexican hero Julio Cesar Chavez, there was some blow back from the Hispanic community, but not so much that he didn’t fight and beat him up again.

A couple of weeks ago, with Oscar running out of international options, and thinking that the Manny Pacquiao rumors were just too ridiculous, I would have bet money on Sergio Mora getting the call.

There you would have had two East LA guys, probably fighting in LA, for the WBC 154 pound belt that Mora won from Vernon Forrest in June. Oscar could leave the game with yet another belt against a very beatable opponent who couldn’t break an egg with his fists. His fans would love it and everyone goes home happy.

Then Mora signed to give Forrest a rematch on September 13 on the undercard of the Golden Boy promoted Juan Manuel Marquez-Joel Casamayor fight on HBO PPV, and so much for that idea.

It was becoming more and more apparent that Oscar was seeking out Pacquiao, and Manny, who had just recently moved up in weight to win a 135 pound belt is willing to accept the challenge at 147 to make the fight. Reportedly Arum, who also promotes Pacquiao, is wheeling and dealing with Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaeffer to bring Oscar-Pac to fruition.

Pacquiao began his career at 106 pounds 13 years ago, gradually building into a lightweight. He also gives away four inches in height and six inches in reach to De La Hoya.

Oscar is now a natural 154 pounder, who will have to struggle to make the 147 pound limit. Manny said that he would probably weigh in at 142 and enter the ring around 149.

If Oscar had reconsidered and fought Cotto, he would have enjoyed the same height and reach advantages as he would have with Pacquiao. Against Mayweather, Oscar fought the naturally smaller man. Another previous opponent possibility, Ricky Hatton, if anything, is shorter than Manny.

Margarito and De La Hoya have similar physical characteristics, plus there’s the fact that Tony is a power punching beast with a granite chin who fights three minutes a round. There won’t be any rest in the late rounds for a fading veteran with wilting stamina.

It seems as if for Oscar, size matters in his farewell bout. If Pacquiao falls through, look for him to pluck a Munchkin out of Oz.

Of course it goes without saying that when you have a match between an international superstar and pound for pound best such as Manny and boxing’s biggest box office attraction in Oscar, you’ll be counting a lot of beans after the fight.

But, aside from the commercial appeal, what’s the point?

You could argue the point that Pacquiao has nothing to lose and everything to gain while it is an absolute must win for Oscar. How damaging would a loss be to his legacy, not to mention embarrassing that he could lose with so many physical advantages? Even if he wins, it’s like, so what?

After all, just how far can Manny be expected to carry his power? How well can he be expected to take a punch from a man who has fought all the way up the middleweight division? On the other hand, if little Manny Pacquiao floors Oscar, or cuts him, or simply runs circles around him and wins a decision, the De La Hoya era will end with a sickening thud for his supporters.

Oscar’s fight with Mayweather Jr. proved that a commercial success does not a good fight make. There are just way, way too many drawbacks in a De La Hoya-Pacquiao matchup to make it even remotely dramatic.

I would pick Manny in a fight with Ricky Hatton, but moving up to fight Oscar is just too tall of a mountain to climb.

ACTORS

I grew up in an era with greats such as Carmen Basilio, who wasn’t completely warmed up until he was bleeding. Angelo Dundee said that Carmen would get cut during the ring walk. And I don’t recall either Basilio or other great bleeders such as Sir Henry Cooper or Jerry Quarry looking for a way out with a technical decision.

Those guys, and many like them even up to the present day could drop blood from one end of the ring to another from legitimate punches and the only complaint would be if the ref stopped the fight.
Nobody complained about head butts, and further, I don’t think there were many. Those tough guys didn’t go around the ring pointing at their crotches in an effort to solicit point deductions either.

A club fighter named Mike Paschall, wearing trunks that read, “All Out Bail Bonds” was floored in round four by a straight left from Andre Dirrell and had a gash in the center of his brow that looked like he had taken a bullet between the eyes.

With blood pouring down his chest, stomach and the ring canvas, Paschall beat the count and begged for more time before the fight was stopped due to the deep gash. He could be heard in the background talking about a rematch. That man has more guts than a certain former champion that fought on another card Saturday night.

In round nine of Zab Judah’s fight with Joshua Clottey for the vacant IBF welterweight title last Saturday, the two were fighting inside and then as television replays clearly showed, a Clottey left cut Judah over the right eye. However, referee Robert Byrd called it an accidental clash of heads.

The ringside physician said that when he held up two fingers, Zab told him he couldn’t see and the fight went to the cards. I bet if that doctor had held up one finger properly, Zab would have been after him with a stool. In any event, the fight went to the cards, and Judah lost by Technical Decision, 87-84 and 86-85 (twice).

After the fight Judah provided his usual litany of excuses and tried to rally the crowd to his support. He was adamant that the cut was caused by a butt, and stuck to the script despite being shown video evidence.

If Zab was even half the expert that he purported himself to be he would have known that Clottey was slightly ahead or at the least it was too close to roll the dice on a decision. But he chose his own poison and lost it all in what might have been his last big opportunity for a title, essentially because he’s a phoney through and through and was looking for the easy way out.

Now let’s hope some others learn from this before they try to Rahman their way out of a scuffle.