FightHype's staff predictions are in for this weekend's intriguing and highly-anticipated "Dream Match" between 10-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View. Who will win? Who will lose? Get the answers to these questions and more in FightHype's staff predictions.
Ben "The Hype" Thompson - De La Hoya TKO12
I'll spare you a long breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of each fighter and just give you my prediction of how I've envisioned the fight going ever since it was first announced. Pacquiao will look impressive, winning quite a few rounds and landing some great shots, but he'll also be taking some serious damage from a much bigger and stronger opponent. Despite Pacquiao having a slight edge on the scorecards, De La Hoya hurts him late with a left hook to the body and finishes it with a classic Golden Boy flurry against the ropes as Roach throws in the towel and saves Manny from taking any further serious damage. Believe me, I'm pulling hardcore for Pacquiao, but this time, I think the uphill battle may be too tough to overcome.
Percy "The Talent" Crawford - De La Hoya TKO6
If you look at the guys who gave De La Hoya problems, they were all technical boxers. Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins, Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey, Felix Sturm and of course Floyd Mayweather Jr. Although Freddie Roach has made some valid changes in Pacquiao's game, I don't think he is considered a pure technical boxer still. I give him a distinct advantage in foot speed, but I'm not even sure if he has better hand speed than De La Hoya does. De La Hoya will stalk his prey early and go in for the kill around the 5th round, finishing the job in the 6th. Pacquiao's only chance of winning is by avoiding De La Hoya's power for all 12 rounds and I just don't see that happening.
Nick Sanchez - Pacquiao by Unanimous Decision
"A good big man will always beat a great little man," right? Isn't that the age old addage we have always heard in boxing? with that being said, this fight is a hard one for me to pick as both have been my favorite fighters of this generation. I'm not going to base my pick on the overall resume of both fighters. Instead, I'm going to base it on both of their last fights, Oscar vs. Forbes and Manny vs. Diaz. Both fights presented similar situations as this weekend's fight. Manny fighting a bigger man and De La Hoya fighting a smaller man. I was ringside for both and well, only Manny left me impressed after both fights. De La Hoya's face looked like a slab of beef after Rocky Balboa got done with it when the light-hitting (but definetely underrated) Stevie Forbes went the distance with him. Manny looked more impressive than ever in his lopsided win over the bigger Diaz. Maybe I'm letting my heart get in the way a little being that Freddie and the Wild Card Gym staff have always been good to me, but at the end of the day, if their last fights are any indication of whats to come, well, I pick Manny to win in impressive fashion by 12-round unanimous decision. Then again, I forgot the fight is in De La Hoya's town of Las Vegas...so maybe split decision, but Manny's hand will raised in victory in the end.
Al "The Monster" Mermini - De La Hoya TKO6
DLH is too big, too strong and too good for Pacman. If the middleweights, barring Hopkins (who, might I add, also fights at light heavy), couldn't hurt Oscar, how the hell is this blown-up featherweight gonna do it? This fight is all about the money. I do, however, feel it could be an all-out war 'till Pacman is reminded that Oscar is a naturally left-handed guy and it's the hook he must be wary of. I don't expect to see Pacman jumping in much
after he feels De La Hoya's power. That being said, if Pac can somehow pull off the upset here, there will certainly be plenty of leftover Thankgiving crow to go around.
Sean Malone - De La Hoya TKO8
As this fight draws near, more and more questions are being asked. Will Pacquiao stand up to De La Hoya's power? Can De La Hoya weather the Pacman storm? In what is arguably the biggest fight of 2008, I'm going with De La Hoya. I think the Golden Boy will be too big and strong. Once that left hook lands, it's over for Pacman.
Simon Ruvalcaba - De La Hoya by Decision
Oscar is too big, too strong....oops, deja vu all over again...I just realized that I can't copy and paste my comments from the Steve Forbes fight. Manny, perhaps, does have the edge in speed. Regardless, the old rule of a good, big man beating a good, little man is at play here. I'm gonna say Pacman shows enough heart and courage to survive. I'm not sure of how great of a fight it will actually turn out to be, but once again, greatt job by HBO 24/7 for pumping the hopes of the underdog. It would really be a huge fight if the man in the opposite corner was named Margarito, but either way, it's a nice event based on the names.
James Almonte - De La Hoya KO6
If it goes past that, Oscar shouldn't even utter the word boxing.
Josh Jordon - Pacquiao by Unanimous Decision
I'm on my way out to Vegas Friday afternoon and I can't wait for this fight. I know all the experts are saying De La Hoya by KO/TKO, but I atually think this fight is going to be pretty damn good while it lasts. I don't think Manny will be able to hurt Oscar with a single shot, but he may be able to bust him up with an accumulation of shots. If Oscar Larios could seriously hurt Manny with a single shot, De La Hoya could knock him the fuck out, but I see Roach getting Manny to stay away from the left hook. If Manny doesn't get caught, I think this fight goes the distance with Manny winning a unanimous decision. Something like 116-112 on the scorecards.
Charles Presnell - Pacquiao TKO4
De La Hoya has been knocked down by guys in lower weight divisions and one of the reasons was due to their speed. I say Pacquiao overwhelms De La Hoya and once again ruins Oscar's storybook ending.
Steve Coleman - Pacquiao by Decision
I actually think that Pac will win by decision. I only see DLH winning by knockout, which is possible of course. I cannot see Pac knocking De La Hoya out, but I think that he will definitely buzz the Golden Goose. Oscar will be shocked by Pacquiao's speed for the first few rounds and I don't think he will be quick enough to be able to respond. If Oscar loses this one, it will be seriously embarrassing. If Pac loses, well, the big man won. I'm going with Pac by decision only because I think Oscar's chin is sturdier than most people think, but I actually feel that it will not be a close fight. If Oscar was in his prime, I would go with the bigger man, but he is not and he will tire as he tries to keep up and catch the Pac-monster.
Rob Abreu - De La Hoya TKO10
Jack Plato - De La Hoya KO10
The main element is the weight disparity in this fight, which is a shame because if Manny was at least 10 pounds bigger or Oscar was at least 10 pounds smaller, this fight would be much harder to pick and be much more interesting. Critics say that this should be an easy fight for De La Hoya for one very good reason: Manny can't come in at a strong enough fighting weight to hurt Oscar. But De La Hoya, who's fought as high as 160, can definitely hurt Pacquiao. Personally, I'd like to know the weight that they come in when they actually step into the ring...not just at the weigh-in, but as we know, they never report De La Hoya's "unofficial weight" and I certainly don't think they'll start doing it for tihs fight. Regardless, the extra pounds that Manny might put on won't help him. One thing you can say about this fight, however, is no matter how long (or short) it lasts, Manny's got the heart of a lion and the speed of a cheetah. Unfortunately, he's about two sizes too small for this fight to be the two-sided classic it could have been. Instead, it's just a big money fight for Oscar against an opponent who is much too small. I believe Manny will brawl and take about 3 of the early rounds, but, ultimately, get drained due to the added weight and ultimately be KO'd in the 10th. It should be good, although one-sided, action at first, but then turn out to be way too one-sided by the middle rounds. If Manny was at a more natural weight for this fight and Oscar was smaller, this fight could have been like Mosley-Delahoya I or better.
Joseph "falvoa" Falvo - De La Hoya by Decision
All the glamour and hype aside, it's basically a welterweight against a lightweight, which ain't necessarilly a bad fight. Pacman will be chomping away and will lump Oscar up a little bit, but De La Hoya will use his experience from all those big fights to manuever, jab, box, and left hook his way to victory. Pacman may get dropped in the bout and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets KO'd, but I think he'll be ready and willing to take some shots and put on a good, but ultimately losing, show. De La Hoya survives some assaults early and with a somewhat safety-first style boxes his way to a decision win over a gritty, but outgunned Pacquiao.
Joey "Titlebelt" Karash - De La Hoya KO7
Ed Garza - Pacquiao by Decision
The reality is that De La Hoya is going to determine the outcome. I beleive that if De La Hoya comes out and tries to destroy Pacquiao, he could easily stop him within the first 4 rounds. However, De La Hoya did not attempt this strategy in his last two fights against Forbes and Mayweather, both of whom were the smaller opponents. Pacquiao is much more active and dangerous than De La Hoya's last two opponents, which means he won't even try to stop Pacquiao as soon as possible. That would be De La Hoya's only chance at winning the fight. De La Hoya will tire by round 6 and that will give Pacquiao many more opportunities to get in and out with his ridonkulously high-punch combos. Remember how easy it was for Mayweather to tee off when he wanted to once De La Hoya tired? Since Pacquiao is the much smaller opponent and De La Hoya has one of the best chins ever, there really is no way Pacquiao can stop him. Since De La Hoya will not go for the gusto and put Pacquiao to sleep, his only chance at stopping him is to catch him coming in. Having said all that, I see Pacquiao taking De La Hoya the distance and getting a decision win.
Derek Batista - De La Hoya TKO8
As much as I would love Manny to win, I just don't think he can overcome the size advantage. Gotta go with Oscar by TKO in 8!
Kenneth Lundgren - De La Hoya by Unanimous Decision