PACQUIAO'S BIG HEART WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE VS DE LA HOYA
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 29 Nov 2008
LOS ANGELES, California -- "Although there is difference in size, you can't measure a man's heart."
Thus was the stern warning made by Las Vegas-based boxing analyst Joaquin Hagedorn Jr. referring to World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao who will face Oscar De La Hoya in a megabuck 12-round non-title showdown in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 6 in a "Dream Match."
"Manny (Pacquiao) is No. 1 in the sport when it comes to discipline and training. When he trains you can see in his face his determination to win," he added. "Man, he is now the number one fighter in the world pound-for-pound."
Hagedorn revealed that The Ring magazine, the bible of boxing, recently interviewed 20 boxing experts in the United States that include editors, trainers, promoters, and world champions and 18 of them predicted that De La Hoya would easily steamroll the 29-year-old Filipino ring hero.
The two who claimed Pacquiao will whip the good looking Golden Boy were WBC world champion Timothy Bradley and Jim Strickland, trainer of Pacquiao's victim David Diaz.
De La Hoya enjoys the edge in height at 5' 11" to Pacquiao's 5' 6" and reach at 73 inches compared to Pacquiao's 68 inches but "Pacquiao's big heart will make a difference," said Hagedorn who is scheduled to plane in from Las Vegas to join the Team Paquiao here after the Thanksgiving Day.
Pacquiao had no problem reducing his weight from 151 lbs a week ago to 141 lbs as of November 26 (LA time). He and the 35-year-old De La Hoya, who maintains a training camp in Big Bear, California, are expected to tip the scale at 147 lbs or less on December 5.
Pacquiao continues to jog early in the morning assisted by conditioning guru Alex Ariza. He goes to the Wild Card gym in Hollywood for his regular workout under the tutelage of famed coach Freddie Roach.
Lightweight Pacquiao, the fight business' best boxer pound-for-pound, and junior middleweight De La Hoya, a 10-time world champion, have agreed to rumble in the welterweight division.
Meanwhile, of the 20 experts interviewed by The Ring magazine in its recent issue, one of them was former WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, who saw Pacquiao losing to the "heavier" 1992 Barcelona Olympics gold medalist.
Diaz, 32, was dethroned by Pacquiao in Las Vegas on June 28 via 9th round knockout.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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