I will not predict right now as to who will prevail in “The Dream Match” at MGM tonight. But I will, after the De la Hoya and Pacquiao have shown their mettle in the first three rounds of the fight.
I’m basically looking for two things in this critical phase of the match: 1) how Pacquiao will handle De la Hoya’s jabs, and 2) how Pacquiao will take De la Hoya’s first couple of solid punches to his head.
Neutralizing De la Hoya’s vaunted jabs is a matter of ring tactic or strategy (that’s how Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is being paid millions to figure out). But whether or not Pacquiao will be able to absorb well De la Hoya’s power punches to the head (the left hook in particular) remains a matter of speculation for now. We will know if Pacquiao has the physical makeup to take those power punches when it happens in the first three rounds.
We can however make some intelligent assumption based on, maybe, physics: De la Hoya’s punches will lose its power almost directly in proportion to his loss in weight; Pacquiao will receive better those already diminished power (of De la Hoya) because of his (Pacquiao’s) enhanced mass (weight and muscle gain).
Now, if Pacquiao passes the initial sizing-up period of the fight, it will probably come down to this question: Will Pacquiao lose his speed (his known advantage) because of the extra poundage (at 147 lbs. he’s fighting 12 pounds higher than when he has fought his last match, with David Diaz, at 135 lbs.)?
Slower, Pacquiao is likely to be more vulnerable to De la Hoya’s main arsenal, the hard jabs. Not only that, diminished speed – and this assumption is again based on physical science – will also translate to reduced power shots and connects for Pacquiao.
It is interesting to note however that while Pacquiao had officially weighed in at 135 lbs. during his match with Diaz, he actually climbed the ring then at 147 lbs. At last night’s official weigh in, Pacquiao tipped the scales at 142 lbs. and he said he expects to gain five to eight pounds at fight night. This means that despite fighting now at a higher division, welterweight, we can expect that the Pacquiao we saw outclass WBC lightweight champion Diaz five months ago is the same or better Pacquiao that will be fighting De la Hoya tonight.
Now, De la Hoya may not be the same Golden Boy who had humiliated the Mexican lightweight legend Julio Cesar Chavez, but is he today at least the same boxer who a year ago went the distance fighting the superlative ring tactician Floyd Mayweather, Jr.?
NOTE: The numbers game also comes into play when the fighters allow the judges to decide the match. That’s one of the politics of prizefights.
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Very, very interesting fight indeed. Hope it will look like Rocky.
barring a k.o. either way, i think it will be a draw. my fearless forecast, though, is pacquiao in seventh round, by knockout.
In 3 or less.
5 rounds or less — pacquiao loses .
The odds were under 2-to-1 (some said minus 185) even before they were sure the fight was going to happen. Las Vegas right now is about minus 165.
Im predicting a relaxing afternoon with my daughters making pasyal somewhere far away from TVs. :-D
(Syempre gusto ko manalo si Pacquiao.)
I think that pacquiao will lose or if he wins, it will be a pyrrhic victory.
Pacquiao my hero — pro cha-cha extend GMA, isn’t he?
who cares after the result? matches like this are meant to entertain and to gain huge profit.
Guess I was wrong. I forgot age is a factor, and old people just don’t have the heart to keep on fighting.
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ROUND 6: Both men trading jab to begin Round 6.
ROUND 6: Pacquiao coming forward but he looks a little winded. He’s expended a ton of energy in the first five rounds.
ROUND 6: De La Hoya moving back now. he’s waiting for Pacquiao to move in.
ROUND 6: Both men trade body blows. Pacquiao raises his fists.
ROUND 6: Pacquiao just misses with a right hook. The follow-up left doesn’t miss its mark.
ROUND 6: Pacquiao lands a thudding right hand to De La Hoya’s skull.
ROUND 6: Pacquiao blitzes De La Hoya with a four-punch combo just before the bell.
ROUND 6: Dan Rafael says Oscar is totally shot. I’m not so sure. Obviously, this isn’t the Oscar of 10 years ago, but Pacquiao’s just the better man tonight.
ROUND 7: Pacquiao using his jab beautifully now. De La Hoya just can’t find his feet.
ROUND 7: De La Hoya putting his jab out there. Pacquiao waltzes around it.
ROUND 7: A hook/uppercut combo backs up Oscar. Pacquiao is trying to finish him!
ROUND 7: Pacquiao’s punches are landing with authority. Oscar looks pathetic.
ROUND 7: De La Hoya has no legs underneath him.
ROUND 7: Oscar has stopped punching back.
ROUND 7: De La Hoya waves him in. Bad idea.
ROUND 7: De La Hoya throws an uppercut but misses badly.
ROUND 8: Pacquiao working his jab. De La Hoya still not punching.
ROUND 8: Pacquiao lands a left, then a right.
ROUND 8: De La Hoya comes to life but Pacquiao responds with his own fire.
ROUND 8: Pacquiao lands a four-punch combo to De La Hoya’s ribs.
ROUND 8: This is Oscar’s last stand. he has no answer and looks out of his league.
ROUND 8: Pacquiao looking for one more left hand to finish the fight.
ROUND 8: Oscar lands a half-hearted combo. Pacquiao mocks him. Pacquiao tries to finish the fight just before the bell.
ROUND 8: Lots of discussion going on in the corner.
ROUND 8: De La Hoya quits!
Grabe naman. Hoya wasn’t fast at all. Or maybe Pacquiao just really tough.
12:16 p.m. in the U.S. De la Hoya badly battered on the 7th and eight round, manager stopped predicting a KO on the 9th round.
it was a one-sided fight right from the first round to the eight. noli de castro tried to steal the scene by posing with manny on the MGM grand boxing ring.
PACQUIAO WON!
ABS-CBN is hybernating.
GMA’s buck overflowing.
A great time for Filipinos! Hope Pacquiao use his fame and power to make a difference – of course not as a politician. Mabuhay!
yehey
I’m focusing more on political news than admiring the sports prodigy, Mr. Pacman. We are often blinded by the issues happening in the government by these kinds of victories.
And I congratulate him for his victory, though.
^^
Congratulations to Pacquiao. And what is this with Noli de Castro?
Sobra-sobra na ang grasya at malaking pera na dumarating kay Pacquiao!!! Alam sana ni Pacman iyong kaniyang obligasyon sa Pilipinas — obligasyon niya to strengthen the Philippine manufacturing base and to create jobs para sa mga Pilipino. I do not know how to teach Pacquiao to be a boxer, but I know the tendentiousness towards self-importance and real estate has to stop. Pacman can not just put his money into what he knows — boxing and sports facilities — nor into rent-collecting structures or even movie houses. And Pacman should not go into politics either, hindi naman siya Fernando Poe, ano ba iyan? Factories — the Philippines needs factories, at alam kong mismo si Abe Margallo ay magsasabi kay pacman of his obligation to build factories with the excessive money that he has earned.
Besides paying the right taxes, PacMan has no further obligation to the country. In reaching the zenith of a world-class champion, he has given hope, inspiration, and pride to the Philippines and Filipinos.
Building factories? Nah! Sakit lang ng ulo. He can spend his hard-earned money the way he wants.
Bakit niya obligasyon? Official ba siya? Sheesh.
Delfin,
Grabe. Maski si Dark Knight do obligasyon yang sianasabi mo. We’re actually lucky to have a boxer, BOXER ha, that is interested in politics.
The fight, however, is acutely disappointing.
yan ang hirap sa ating mga pinoy. kumita ka ng malaking pera at lahat umaasa sayo. biglang darami ang kamaganak, inaanak, kaibigan at kaibigam ng kaibigan o kamaganak. ang masakit, pag hindi mo nabigyan, pinakamasama ka sa ibabaw ng mundo. pag pinagbigyam mo ng minsan, kailangan gawin mo habang buhay dahil sa oras na huminto ka, masama ka, at lahat ng naibigay mo na ay bale wala.
please, don’t tell pacquiao what to do with his money unless he hired you for financial advice – advice which he can choose to heed or reject. he earned his fortune and put his very life to attain it. if he want to squander it, what right have you to complain? wala siyang obligasyon maliban sa kanyang asawa, anak at magulang.
Pacman’s training paid off
Training must have been the single most important factor that made Manny ‘Pacman” Pacquiao win over Oscar ‘Golden Boy’ dela Joya in what was dubbed as the Dream Match in the global boxing scene. And necessarily, one trains under a coach of equal if not unparalleled reputation among boxing experts. In other words, Roach has given to Pacman what Pacman has to give back to Roach in return – a healthy symbiotic relationship that is seen to last until Pacman would have hit the threshold of retirement in his long boxing career.
Both Pacman and Golden Boy prepared for the fight that is perceptibly viewed as a turning point in their respective boxing careers. Each one has his own set of advantages as well as disadvantages. So that when that dream becomes reality, we have seen boxers having fought the way they should according to how their own coaches have designed their type of training to be. One is a left hand boxer with quick right jabs while the other is a right hand boxer with equally stiff left jabs. One is higher and the other lower in the rest of the basic criteria such as age, height, weight, reach, etc.
Some stuff do appear a little bit like culture-bound. Before and after the fight, we see Pacman bowed his head in presumably silent prayers at the corner of the ring for too long enough moments that may have made American viewers a little bit curious. We would not call Pacman any type of religious fanatic but where body language indicates – he just was so wishful not to fail in this fight which he dedicates to the Filipino people. But it would have been the same albeit imperceptible wishes of Golden Boy himself sans any kind of like body language. Oscar dela Joya just didn’t get the chance he must have waited for – clear windows when he can throw right hand over Pacman. Simply, it is a elusive task of shooting a speedy moving object – under its hypnosis – Oscar can’t even hazard a punch without opening himself to Pacman whose speed and power is probably without equal.
Oscar clearly has to lose in the 7th and 8th round and early on the 6th. Truth is, at the 4th round alone, Pacman has already started to show signs he can have Golden Boy handy. In other words, not until the 5th round did it become clear to the viewing universe that Pacman has really covered more ground than Oscar dela Joya, if sadly. We would have wanted to see how Golden Boy’s right hand throws would have mattered to Pacman. Even boxing experts and coaches most especially do know that fighting a left-hand boxer isn’t that easy for a right-hand b boxer. Perhaps, Oscar did not see what he could have expected from Pacman who must have closed all windows for any single opportunity for Golden Boy to land a single right hand throw over his face or body.
Oscar must have had more of legwork as Pacman did but perhaps, age already had its toll on the Golden Boy. There is no short route to give Pacman a dedicated right hand knockout punch. This is where Oscar must have failed. In all indications, Pacman really deserves to win in this Dream Match with him to rake over P735 million – a cash bounty higher than all his other wins combined. At the other end of the equation, Oscar gets as much as $25 million – enough to sustain him upon retirement from the ring. With that kind of fresh money, Pacman can hope to join a 2010 senatorial boxing fight if he were convinced enough, he will never make it as congressman. Surely, Pacman did a country proud with Noli de Castro – a chronic limelight grabber. That split-second footage is political advertising by any other name.
Pacman’s coach Roach has testified on the people’s champ brand of generosity as we have seen him share his blessings with the Filipinos abroad and his own Team Pacquiao who have reduced in weight up until the day of actual fight. Perhaps, Pacman will do a little more rounds visiting military camps to boost the morale of our wounded military personnel in hospitals and giving away some goodies if not a few hundred bucks for Christmas. Pacquiao, by his own admission, deserves the honor he has just reaped making known to the world that Filipino boxers are Mexicans’ own nemesis.
There ought to be a lesson learned from this Dream Match and that it is this – if Filipino boxers or other Filipino athletes for that matter – train under the most ideal setting, there is no reason they can win gold in the Olympics. Under the present circumstances however, much is left to be desired in the manner we have treated our athletes who compete internationally. If even the appropriated budget for athletes is being siphoned off for purposes other than where they should be budgeted for, we should expect less and less reaping gold medals. Pray tell, Pacman himself will not be used for purposes other than boxing by our skilled political wannabes before the Dream Elections of 2010.
PRIMER C. PAGUNURAN
UP Diliman, Quezon City Cellphone: 09164985265 Email: nielsky_2003@yahoo.com
PAGUNURAN,
The thing about Pacquiao is that he was not self-conscious at all. He didn’t have a chip on his shoulders and wasn’t living by any shadow. He just went into the ring and let his skill and training do the job.
Abe: Ano ulit iyong sabi mo na sabi ni Rizal? Patriotism and self-abnegation, lower case and Upper Case :neutral: kung bakit ang mga Pilipinong yumaman sobra-sobra katulad ni Pacquiao ay may obligasyon magbukas ng factory para gumawa ng trabaho para sa Pilipino for the greater good?
Hindi naman kasi diktador si Rizal. Opinion nya lang yun. Ang totoo, tapos mo magbayad ng tax ikaw na lang bahala mag-isip kung saan mo igagastos pera mo.