MAGNIFICENT MANNY STOPS "THE GOLDEN BOY"
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 07 Dec 2008
Ninety million Filipinos saw their prayers answered and their dreams come true when ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao put on a magnificent display of remarkable skill, blinding speed and awesome power to punish 'The Golden Boy' and force him to quit at the end of eight rounds in their 'Dream Match' which turned into a nightmare for the biggest name in boxing.
The large, flag waving crowd of Filipino fight fans at the Grand Garden Arena and millions more in theaters, restaurants, pubs and other venues across the Philippines cheered themselves hoarse as Pacquiao lifted their spirits and gave a nation and its people an early Christmas gift with his smashing victory.
The people who called the fight a mismatch, a circus, a farce and a disgrace had to cringe in shame as Pacquiao proved not just to these handful of men but to the entire world of boxing that he was not the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter for nothing and that his indomitable courage far outweighed their disbelief and their fears.
A totally relaxed Pacquiao entered the ring with a smile, knelt down in his corner and prayed and shortly afterwards preyed on his hapless six-time world champion De La Hoya who in the end looked like he was the victim of a mismatch.
Following the smartly worked-out game-plan of two-time 'Trainer of the Year' Freddie Roach who scored his own personal triumph over longtime foe Ignacio 'Nacho' and the venerable Angelo Dundee, Pacquiao came at De La Hoya from all angles and with lighting movement in and out, using a surprising left straight to nail De La Hoya time and time again.
Bobbing his head from side to side Pacquiao avoided the vaunted De La Hoya left jab which was almost non-existent giving credence to the consistent reports by www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that he was having a problem with his left shoulder. Whenever De La Hoya used his right on the pleading of Beristain, Pacquiao showed utter disdain for his power and came charging back with flurries, on occasions taunting De La Hoya to get it on. But he was too bothered and bewildered to respond as Pacquiao won every round on our unofficial scorecard.
So efficient was Pacquiao's punches in terms of hitting their target that a swelling began to develop on De La Hoya's left cheek as early as the start of round two. Pacquiao's quickness frustrated De La Hoya as the Filipino southpaw connected with one power shot after another that saw De La Hoya?s face swell after every round as his corner worked feverishly to contain the swelling while a slight cut on the bridge of his nose also in round two added to their concern.
Towards the end of the fourth round Pacquiao's confidence was at a high but he refused to take any chances, well aware that one big left hook or uppercut from the bigger De La Hoya could spell trouble. In the final minute Pacquiao ripped De La Hoya with rapid-fire combinations as he followed Roach?s instructions to stay off the ropes and keep the fight in the center of the ring.
Pacquiao snapped De La Hoya's head back with a cracking right hand in the fifth round and in a smart change of tactics suddenly switched to the body and back to the head using his speed and power effectively to confuse De La Hoya even more. Even when De La Hoya, at the importuning of Beristain connected with a good body shot and followed up with three left hooks, Pacquiao didn't seem bothered and retaliated with his own combinations.
Both fighters appeared to take a breather in the sixth before Pacquiao exploded with a combination that buckled De La Hoya's knees in the final seconds of the round. The Filipino whirlwind that Larry Merchant who first broached the idea of the 'Dream Match' when most others thought it was a bad joke had described as a typhoon racing across the Pacific, knew he had 'The Golden Boy' in trouble and pushed him into a corner where he ripped him with body shots and punished him so badly that even referee Tony Weeks looked like he would have stopped the fight if not for De La Hoya's legendary status.
Pacquiao waded into the fading De La Hoya in the eighth round and plastered him with power punches that made the once proud Olympic gold medalist look hapless and hurt and when his corner begged for the fight to be stopped De La Hoya had no choice but to give in.
At the end of the fight, two of the three judges scored the fight the same as we did, a complete shutout 80-71 by Dave Moretti and Adelaide Byrd while one judge Stanley Christodoulou gave De La Hoya a single round for a 79-72 scorecard..
With the victory Pacquiao moved up to 48-3-2 with 36 knockouts while De La Hoya dropped to 39-6, 30 knockouts.
Pacquiao's conditioning guru Alex Ariza who helped Pacquiao reach his peak in his WBC lightweight title fight when he pulverized David Diaz in nine rounds and got him ready for the bigger De La Hoya said 'Manny was unbelievable.'
He said that according to Roach the turning point came early in the fight when Pacquiao connected with a right hook over the left jab of De La Hoya and cut him. He said after that De La Hoya was afraid to throw the left jab because Pacquiao was catching him with his right hook.
In a brief exchange after the fight Pacquiao graciously told De La Hoya "You are still my idol no matter what happened" to which De La Hoya replied "No, now you are my idol."
PHOTO BY DR ED DE LA VEGA.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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