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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The Pacman: Manny and dela Hoya Fight




Round One: Oscar De La Hoya's four-inch height advantage is very evident. Manny Pacquiao's quickness - both with his hands and his feet - seems to bother Oscar. Pacquiao 10-9.



Round Two: Pacquiao looks spectacular while De La Hoya looks very ordinary. Manny can't miss with his straight lead right as Oscar's head remains a stationary target. De La Hoya is not busy enough. Pacquiao 10-9.



Round Three: Pacquiao continues to dominate. De La Hoya's face is reddening and his punches lack any snap. Still early but Oscar may need a knockout to win. Pacquiao 10-9.



Round Four: Oscar comes out aggressively but the rest of the round is all Pacquiao. De La Hoya simply can't handle Manny's speed and - so far - has made no adjustments. De La Hoya looks a bit discouraged and it's looking like a KO may be his only chance to win. Lots of Pacquiao fans in the crowd. Pacquiao 10-9.



Round Five: Oscar's best round of the fight so far ... and he still didn't win it. Either De La Hoya is flat or Pacquiao is better than ever. Maybe both. Swelling under Oscar's right eye. Pacquiao 10-9.



Round Six: De La Hoya used to have a great jab and a great left hook. Where did they go? Oscar is tougher than he's given credit for but he's never taken a one-sided beating like this. Not by Trinidad. Not by Mosley. Not by Hopkins. Not by Mayweather. Pacquaio shows no signs of slowing down or getting reckless - he's fighting a technically perfect fight. Pacquiao 10-9.



Round Seven: The worst round of Oscar's career. Pacquaio hits him relentlessly. De La Hoya was never close to getting knocked down yet referee Tony Weeks looks tempted to stop the fight. After the round, Oscar's corner tells him he has to throw punches or they'll throw in the towel. Oscar's left eye is rapidly closing. End appears near. Pacquiao 10-8.



Round Eight: De La Hoya has too much pride to quit but he's no longer competitive and he's taking a beating. Doesn't appear he even has the proverbial 'puncher's chance' because he's not throwing any punches with bad intentions. It's only a matter of time before the referee, the doctor or Oscar's corner stops the fight. Pacquiao 10-9.

It's over! De La Hoya's corner convinces him not to come out for the ninth round. It's the right decision as the next twelve minutes were only going to get worse.

Punch Stats: Total Punches: De La Hoya - 83 of 402 (21%); Pacquiao - 224 of 585 (38%). Total Power Punches: De La Hoya - 51 of 164 (31%); Pacquiao - 195 of 333 (59%).

Scoring: After eight one-sided rounds, all three judges had Pacquiao way ahead in the fight: 80-71, 80-71 and 79-72.

Post-Fight: De La Hoya, as always, was all class. He stopped short of announcing his retirement but sounded like he's leaning that way. To his credit, he offered no excuses and had nothing but praise for Pacquiao.

Pacquiao - completely unmarked - says his preparation was all based on speed and he knew in the first round that he was too fast for De La Hoya. Manny wouldn't say who he wants to fight next but moving down to 140 to face Ricky Hatton makes sense. The bigger question may be whether Pacquiao's spectacular win is enough to lure Floyd Mayweather out of 'retirement' for one more huge payday.

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