OSCAR HAS AX TO GRIND; MANNY HAS OBLIGATION TO 91 MILLION FILIPINOS
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 04 Dec 2008
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Hell hath no fury like a promotional management scorned.
As repeatedly emphasized by Golden Boy Promotion CEO Richard Schaefer, Oscar De La Hoya wants to punish Manny Pacquiao on December 6 "because he was very disappointed in Manny."
De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs), according to Schaefer, is still fuming mad because he thought Pacquiao had given them a ride when the Filipino ring jewel did not sign up with De La Hoya's promotional outfit, which, incidentally, is Top Rank's co-promoter of the 12-round "Dream Match".
Schaefer went on that "De La Hoya wanted Pacquiao to pay" saying the 29-year-old lefty "has the ability to attract chaos."
Unknown to Schaefer and probably De La Hoya, Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) has always told the Philippine press he has no hard feelings towards De La Hoya and those who don't give him a china man's chance to score a big upset in boxing history when he goes up against the 35-year-old 10-time world champion at the MGM Grand here on Saturday.
Pacquiao even reminded the press and the HBO, which have been following his training at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood, that more than his biggest fight against De La Hoya, he has obligation to 91 Filipino people rooting for him in in the Philippines and abroad.
"I want to make the people happy that's why I always give my best everytime I have a fight," Pacquiao mused. "Only God knows who will win (between him and De La Hoya) but I will not disappoint the nation."
Pacquiao's most potent weapon, he admitted, is "serious training."
"When I train, I focused my mind. I'm always positive," said the five feet and six inches best boxer in the world pound-for-pound. Pacquiao also prays a lot--in the morning when he wakes up and in the evening after dinner.
In his suite at the Mandalay Bay and Resort where he and his team are billeted, he prays the rosary together with wife Jinkee and selected members of the family.
Oddsmakers, meanwhile, continued to install De La Hoya a solid pick to beat the Filipino national hero on account of his reach and height advantage. He has 73 inches in reach as against Pacquiao's 68.
They will rumble in the 147 lbs., a welterweight division, where De La Hoya once reigned as world champion.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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