Classic Forums Thoughts on Pac-DLH

The guys that called it right take a bow.

I suppose the logical matchup is now Pac v Hatton, an intriguing fight if ever there was one. The fight I really want to see is Pac v Mayweather. It has to happen now!

I wonder how Manny Pac will be viewed 10 years from now?

 

That's a great post.

 

I was bewildered when DLH tipped the official scales at 145 lbs, but I still expected him to gain at least to step into the ring as a juniormiddleweight.
......then HBO announced DLH is at 147 right before stepping into the ring......at that point, I went from Pacquiao has no chance, to Pac can actually win this thing!

Has anybody heard a quote from DLH on this weight matter, and what his rationale was for this......dont media credentialed journalist do their jobs anymore?

 

If true, I think it's refreshing to hear that a guy is actually coming into the ring inside the limit and not blown up 10-15 pounds on his weigh-in weight. It's the way it should be.

 

I consider DLH a great fighter for many of the reasons you stated.
Certainly he was competitive even in the fights that did'nt go his way.

......but the bottom line for me is that he does'nt belong with the true elites in history.
Bottom line is that he could'nt rise to the occasion and lost every big fight to a bonafide peer in his career.

 

What surprised me the most was Oscar's weight at fight night. I don't know what kind of training he has been through to move down so easily but it clearly was a factor during the fight. Hell, Pacquiao came in the ring heavier than Oscar ! Manny at 148.5 and Oscar at the welterwieght limit 147 when everybody was expecting at least an extra 10 pounds for DLH.
I think it was a bad miscalculation from the so called "star team" whom De La Hoya worked with for this bout.
But that only a factor. The main reason Oscar lost is due to two things : his age and Pacquiao's speed.

It would have been different if he was on the same level he used to against PBF but well, in boxing, you just don't know what can happen.

 

Some random thoughts:

Obviously half of the fight's result is that Oscar was shot, but the other half... I wonder. All the fights in which I've seen Oscar do his best work was against guys with whom he could control the tempo and range. Even when he had one without the other (ala Whitaker, where he could control the range due to his massive size advantage but not the tempo because of Whitaker's speed and elusiveness) he couldn't dominate guys who were in or near the top tier.

When he couldn't control these things, whether because a fighter was too fast for him, (Sugar Shane Mosley) could physically impose their will on him, (Bernard Hopkins) or because they had a similar skill set and were able to contest his control of these things (Quartey) Oscar struggled mightily, and with mixed results.

No matter what stage of his career DLH might have been in when they fought, Pac would never allow Oscar to set the tempo, and the relentless aggression of Pac could always have the potential to upset Oscar's preference for using his reach and keeping things at arm's length.

This all makes me wonder how much trouble Manny would have given even a better Welterweight version of Oscar. Now, I'd expect the Oscar who beat Quartey to pull things out, because of his physical advantages and because he wouldn't be shot to hell, but it does make me wonder if Pac could have given even the best version of DLH trouble.

Any thoughts from the forum?

 

I can't believe DLH weighed less than Pac. He still looked a weight class up on him, clearly imo.

I don't believe DLH would be stupid enough to come in at 147. I've heard people say that he wanted to weigh a light amount to legitimize the contest, but come on now, this is Oscar we're talking about. He's hardly the type that would do something like that. Just look at all the specs he had for the Mayweather bout.

I'd sooner believe that he had an adverse effect to the diuretics he probably needed to make 147 than believe that he was weighing in the 140's for 3 weeks before the fight.

 

Crow, as in "To Eat Crow"?.Christ you Scousers really are thick aren't you,the most intelligent bloke who came from the Pool was probably Yosser .And stop swearing ,or I'll resume saying "resume "again.

 

Have you ever heard anyone actually say this who isn't called Chuck or Brad?

And why would you 'eat humble pie' when you simply called a fight wrong?

 

Oh come on now

 

My name is Randy ,but my friends call me Tab,and while it might be usual for you ordinary people to make a wrong prediction ,it is highly unusual for the likes of me.

 

I'd venture to say that Pacquiao has the kind of loose, relentless, technically underrated style that would have always caused problems for Oscar's more tense, calculating, and cautious style. These respective styles also happen to reflect their psychologies as well. Pacquiao is not self-conscious -and he's fluid, whereas Oscar is not. Pacquiao's intensity would disturb Oscar and force Oscar to take risks -and pay for them. I don't believe that Oscar would ever be really comfortable with that.

This was a bad choice of an opponent for Oscar in terms of style though not size -particularly at this point of his career. And particularly because he effectively sacrificed his size advantages. In his desire to match Manny's speed, he sacrificed the most important asset a natural WW would have over a natural FW -physical strength. 145 was just too low.

 

A pleasure to read something so thoughtfully, precisely, and artfully put, S89. A post with real weight!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP6AwknmjkU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0_HOWlGD6o

 

De La Hoya wasn't tense and rigid in his younger days. Not when he fought Hernandez, Ruelas, Chavez, etc, over 12 years ago. He was very free-flowing back then, also fluid and loose. His upperbody and head movement against Hernandez was as good as it ever was at any point in his career. He fought out of a low crouch throughout that fight and was very elusive. Constantly 'bobbing and weaving' and swiveling from the waist. And he was anything but 'tight' technically against Chavez in 96. Who was the influence at that point in his career? Jesus Rivero.