In a stirring upset, Manny Pacquiao dominated Oscar De La Hoya before scoring an 8th-round TKO at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday. Pacquiao, who began his career as a flyweight, proved to be too fast, too elusive, and ultimately, too strong, for the bigger De La Hoya. Pacquiao, the reigning lightweight champion at 135 pounds, moved up to 147 pounds to meet De La Hoya.
The old boxing cliche says that a good big man will always beat a good little man, but that was not the case tonight. This was David slaying Goliath in trunks and gloves.
In the postfight interview, Oscar said, "He was the better man."
He would not come out and say he would retire, but Oscar certainly hinted this could be it for him inside the ring. After the fight, Pacquiao said to Oscar, "You're still my idol." To which Oscar responded by saying, "Now you're my idol."
Pacquiao dominated nearly every second of the fight. He outboxed Oscar at will, scoring with lead left hands from his southpaw stance. De La Hoya had no answer for Pacquiao's speed and movement. The Golden Boy was never able to pull the trigger on the smaller fighter. He just couldn't find him.
Pacquiao also scored with sneaky right hooks and jabs that closed Oscar's left eye by the end of the fight. The discussion to end the fight began in Oscar's corner after the seventh round.
The administrator has disabled public write access.
Forums
