Pacquiao vs Dela Hoya Prefight Analysis
By Mortz Ortigoza
PHILIPPINES (December 02, 2008)- Of all the fistic wars both Oscar ‘Golden Boy” de la Hoya and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao had undergone, their December 6, 2008 Dream Match would probably be the physically risky campaign of all..
After eight years in this Hurt & Bruise Industry, the Golden Boy would be shedding precious fats and muscles and still expect to maintain his prowess through 48 minutes stamina-extracting ring combat at the dais. Pacman for the first time has climbed the 147 Junior Welterweight limit by packing himself with fats and muscles.
Thus my poser:
Would the four-inches-deficit-in-height Filipino could still retain his renowned speed and heavy handed left that gives him so much fame and fortune – as what nuclear warheads are to North Korea ’s diminutive dictator Kim Jong il before the threatened and jittery members of the world community.
Would dela Hoya melts like a candle in the middle of the rounds after absorbing the barrage of bone crushing upper cuts on the lower parts of his body where he burnt a significant chunk of those fats and muscles that could help protect his lower torso? This tragedy happened to Eric Morales in the middle of his rematch with Pacquaio.
Comparative Advantages: De la Hoya
Orthodox boxer with both hands blessed with power punch. The unique about him is he could triple his left jab to power hook and upper cut. A skill you could not see to Roy Jones, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Muhammad Ali.
Watch this on YouTube how this left hand fell to the floor Ike Quartey, Fernando Vargas, and Ricardo Mayorga - as if they were hit on the head by a sharpshooter’s Krag riffle in the Battle of Leningrad.
He got four inches reach advantage. He could wage a devil-may-care tit-for tat attitude to a smaller Pacquaio.
Unlike Juan Manuel Marquez who satisfied himself mostly with a 1-2 combination, dela Hoya can impose on Pacquaio a 1-2-3-4 and even 5-6 Sigue-Sigue Sputnik versus Bahala-Na-Gang wars’ combos as what he has done to Quartey, Vargas, and Mayweather, Jr.
His awkward style of positioning the inside part of his gloves in front of his opponent was an edge in terms of unpredictability of what hands he is to use to sneak an attack.
He doubled them as cover by just raising it near the level of his head as he danced in and out while he gets timing to hit his opponent.
He used them too to parry straights from his opponent just like what a pariser (short sword) to a combatant of fencing. The only difference is the former Olympic gold medalist got two of them on both his hands. He could afford a distant fight since he has a reach advantage.
Comparative Advantage: Pacquaio
A Southpaw whose left hand can be likened to a hammer mill that smashed and shrunk immobilized cars to a scrap in a junk yard. The only difference here are those shrunk scraps are not from the bankrupt American big three carmakers’ Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors. Those sons of guns have human names like Morales, Larios, Barrera, Diaz, and some tongue-twisting Thai sounding names.
A significantly improved boxer before he fought in a rematch Manuel Marquez where he was seen to be patient and calculating. He weaved and bobbed. He danced in-and-out from his opponent before he unleashes his punches.
Could use his sledged hammer left hand to bludgeon the suspected and now thinner lower torso, and the susceptible liver of the Golden Boy to wear him out if not knock him down. Remember how Bernard Hopkins KO’d Oscar when he climbed the 160 Middleweight division?
What to Expect from De la Hoya
Use both his long arms reach to hit the usually unguarded side of the lower body of Pacquaio.
He should knock-out Pacman at the opening of the round if not in the first half if he has the conscience not to be kill joy before the eyes of the high paying spectators -- thousands of whom came as far as Asia just to see this treat. Because he will not know if his body desert him in the second half -- after all those squeezing of fats and muscles to make this multi-million bestial mismatch become a reality show.
Exploit the tendency of Pacquaio to sandbag with his gloves every time his opponent pitter-patter him with a successive left jabs, but not to forget he was vulnerable to an uppercut in between the bottom of his forearms or elbows he used as part of his cover. Just imagine what a bullet –train can do to a chin that is waiting at the end of a tunnel?
Wage a Beristain- inspired fistic art of incessant right straight and left hook combo.
The Filipino is predictable. He still uses the right as jabs before he unleash his power left.
Oscar uses his right and left elbow horizontally to push, pin and rough-up Pacquaio at the ropes as he either sneaks his right or left hook to the chin or head of Pacquaio.
After exchanges of blow, the Pacman has the tendency to set his stance whenever his opponent stands near the side of his left shoulder. Worse, he outbalanced himself as he prepared to avoid the blow of his opponent. Whenever he was hit, he staggered as he was caught off-guard. Buy a $ 1 pirated 20-in-1 DVD from your favorite Muslim vendor here and review his Marquez rematch.
After Manny throw his right jabs or straight, Oscar can counter it with his left successive straights or hooks.
After an overzealous Pacman lunge his long left straight he outbalanced himself as he followed it through.
Here Oscar can just avoid it by weaving or ducking as he gives Manny that long undeserved upper cut or hammer punch for him to fall on the canvas in what could be a new version of boxing-jujitsu.
He can afford to brawl with the smaller and untested Pacman in 147 and still win the fight with a knock-down or knock-out. If he survived the bigger and stronger opponents in Tito Trinidad (disputable fight), Mayorga, and Vargas, why not give it all to the now weaving and bobbing Filipino “King of Bonsai” who wants to subjugate the uncharted Junior Welterweight Division.
The Filipino is predictable. He still uses his right as jabs as he set his left for a power punch.
What to expect from Pacquaio
Every time the bigger and stronger Oscar jump and overrun him. He should backpedal but see to it he left a memento by damaging the chin of de la Hoya with a staggering uppercut. This was what Light Heavyweight and smaller Roy Jones had done to a much bigger John Ruiz when the former climbed the said division to become a world champion and made history.
If fortunate, Pacqauio - who came from 106 - will not only make history, he will make lots of billions of pesos out of this. And Ricky Hatton, Floyd Mayweather,Jr,and the Filipino voters on the 2010 election will agree on this.
Sometimes, Oscar in his zeal for an attack plunge to the left side of his opponent. Manny can wait or bait him do commit this fiasco and tag him with his left uppercut, or right straight or hook at the side of his left head or body as what a matador could do to a rushing and smoking Toro.
In a phone-both encounters, Pacman should always raise his right hand to cover the right side of his head and chin to protect it from the left hook of the American-Mexican.
Use his right hand not only as a jab but as counter punch to the head of Oscar who has the tendency to lower his left hand after he shoots it up.
Pacquaio should watch that after dela Hoya lunge his right straight he had the tendency to lower the said hand. This is where the Pacman can counter through his left straight.
Attack the body of Oscar where he could be hurt as seen during his Vargas, Trinidad , and Hopkin’s campaigns.
In a close fight, whenever Oscar covers his head with both of his gloves, he forgot that his two forearms and elbows are vulnerable also to the penetration of an uppercut from his opponent.
