The forthcoming fight between two current world boxing champions Oscar dela Hoya and Manny Pacquiao is being considered by many boxing aficionados as a one sided fight because of the marked physical advantage in favor of Oscar dela Hoya. But to other boxing fans, it could be a fight that makes up for the biblical story of David and Goliath.
Clearly, dela Joya has the advantage in height, weight, built and reach. Below is a comparative data of the two boxing legends:
Oscar de la Hoya Manny Pacquiao
Height 5'10” 5'6.5”
Weight (Welterweight) 147 lbs. 147 lbs.
Stance right Southpaw
Reach 73 67
Age 35 29
Record 39-5-0 41-3-2
As may be gleaned from the above statistics of the two boxing champions, de la Hoya enjoys an advantage in height, reach, and built. Pacquiao can only capitalize on his youth and speed. Both boxers are known for their power punches.
The fight is set for December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oscar dela Hoya will have to drop to 147 pounds while Pacquiao will have to gain more weight to satisfy the welterweight category. It is believed that Oscar de la Hoya will have a hard time going down to 147 pounds without affecting his endurance for the 12 round boxing event. He may come in at 150 pounds and just pay willingly the $1 million penalty per pound of excess weight over and above the 147 pounds limit. But then again, Manny Pacquiao's favorite trainer Freddie Roach, will most likely object to this come fight night. He was quoted to have said that “a contract is a contract” and it says that the limit is 147 pounds.
What is in this fight for Oscar de la Hoya? Money is first and foremost. The bright boys of his own boxing promotions outfit, the Golden Boy Promotions, believe that fighting Manny Pacquiao at a time when the “Pacman” is at the height of his flourishing boxing career after having been named as the best pound for pound boxer by the prestigious Ring Magazine plus his recent victory over David Diaz for the lightweight crown, will generate the biggest paycheck for de la Hoya both in pay per view and gate receipts. Of course, there are other minor considerations like, avenging the loss of his fellow Mexicans who have all lost to Pacquiao in recent championship boxing events. Another reason is that de la Hoya himself may have thought that he has good chances of winning because of his built, height and reach advantage.
For Manny Pacquiao, the most popular boxing champion in the world today, its more about winning over the Olympic boxing gold medalist and an equally popular boxing personality, despite his superiority in height and reach. Another reason is Manny's self-imposed role as peace advocate in his country where he is looked up to by the masses as a model for sports excellence. Winning this fight would further boost his popularity among the great number Filipino masses. Of course no one can deny that big money is a major consideration in his decision to fight de la Hoya. It has been announced earlier that he will run for a seat in congress in the 2010 national elections and he would need substantial funding for his political campaign.
Whatever motivation is there for these two great boxing champions, most boxing aficionados believe that this fight is going to be a one-sided affair or even a mismatch. Some boxing fans think that this fight is being stage because of greed for money and utter disregard for fairness and fair play. But because of Pacquiao's own inherent talents and physical assets like his youth, speed and punching power, he might just fit the role of David, winning over Goliath in the famous biblical story of “David and Goliath”.
