DE LA HOYA LEARNS FROM PACQUIAO’S TRAINING
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 25 Apr 2007
Oscar De La Hoya, preparing for his classic battle with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 6 (Manila Time) says he has learned from the training methods adopted by Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao and his celebrated trainer Freddie Roach.
De La Hoya said in an interview telecast by HBO in its pre-fight series “I’ve been thinking how Manny Pacquiao, another fighter Freddie trains, always comes out in tremendous shape and never gets tired and he throws punches like there is no tomorrow.”
De La Hoya revealed that the first time he worked out with Roach he said “now I know how he does it. Its because of Freddie.” However, De La Hoya didn’t reveal what it was that was so special about Roach’s training methods which gave Pacquiao such a big edge over his opponents.
The world light middleweight champion said as a result of working with Roach he is “in tremendous shape” adding that “I don’t think I’ve ever been in such great shape.” De La Hoya said he and Roach were “prepared for anything” against Mayweather. He said they were basically ready for a boxing war in the ring.”
Mayweather, Ring Magazine’s No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world said that in most fights “I’m always dishing out so I’m not really worried about going out there and taking punishment." Referring to De La Hoya’s advantage in weight, Mayweather who is moving up to fight at 154 pounds stressed that “weight doesn’t win fights – smarts, a good team and having a good mental game-plan and being in tremendous shape. That’s what wins fights, especially big fights.”
Big fights cant get any bigger than “The World Awaits” which has been described by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer as “unlike any fight anyone has ever seen, in and out of the ring, from the initial press conference to the final bell. Given the caliber of the fighters and the high stakes involved, we have no doubt that this will be the biggest boxing event of all-time and one that will go down in the history books as such.”
For Filipino boxing fans who will follow the action on the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN which has the exclusive television rights, the coverage over Channel 2 will have the added attraction of a crucial WBO world title eliminator between emerging ring sensation and world No.1 Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and No.2 ranked Sergio Medina of Argentina. Also featured in another supporting bout will be AJ “Bazooka” Banal who makes his US debut against Mexican KO artist Juan Alberto Rosas who has 22 knockouts in 25 wins with only 2 defeats.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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