PACMAN'S SECRET WEAPON TO VICTORY: DE LA HOYA COULD BE DRILLED BY PACQUIAO'S WIDE PUNCHES
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 06 Dec 2008
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Who says it's difficult to hit a towering windmill like Oscar De La Hoya?
One of Manny Pacquiao's specialties is to harass his opponents with wide punches, and according to respected boxing historian and biographer Bert Sugar, "De La Hoya can be reached with wide punches."
In his pre-fight breakdown of the "Dream Match", the ageless Sugar disclosed that "speed tends to bother De La Hoya. In his two losses to Sugar Shane Mosley, Oscar had difficulty dealing with the speed of Mosley's punches."
De La Hoya's other weaknesses, Sugar explained, is "when De La Hoya throws a punch he is up on his toes, giving Pacquiao an open target for his body punches, which could tend to slow De La Hoya down in the later rounds where he has had stamina in the past."
Also, "De La Hoya has been far less active than Pacquiao, having had only six fights in five years (and only three in the last four), winning only three of those six fights while Pacquiao has held 12 in the same five-year time span, winning 10, losing one, and drawing one," added Sugar.
He also observed, however, that Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) has his own glossary of weaknesses with his giving away of height, reach, and weight to De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) Team Pacquiao should worry about.
Sugar observed that when "Pacquiao, who started his career as a 106-pound light flyweight, is fighting at a weight limit of 147, raising the question of whether he can carry his firepower north with him as well as whether he can weather the heavier punches of a heavier fighter."
"Pacquiao's style is one predicted on offense, not defense, and he tends to come charging in with his hands held low and drops his hands and raises his chin after he punches, leaving an inviting target for Oscar.
"The 'Pac Man' sometimes experiences difficulty 'getting to' an opponent who doesn't stand directly in front of him and moves out of range," Sugar noted.
But Pacquiao can still beat Pacquiao as he "possesses speed and power, throwing quick and explosive punches."
"Pacquiao is an aggressive fighter, one who keeps coming, coming and coming some more, moving in behind a sharp right job, sometimes doubling up, and then following with a powerful left--alternating between left hooks and left uppercuts.
"The boxer called 'Pac Man' is a non-stop boxer with bottomless energy and a buzzsaw style, which tends to wear his opponents down in the late rounds.
"A sharper puncher with fast hands, Pacquiao can hurt any opponent as well as being an excellent 'finisher' as attested to by his 35 knockouts in 52 fights (a 67% slugging average if you're scoring at home)," concluded Sugar.
Top photo: Pacquiao trains at IBA Gym in Las Vegas. Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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