Just wanna share this nice read about pacquiao prior to dela hoya match. http://www.boxeomundial.net/boxeo.php?category=english&id=8959# THE MEXICAN POINT OF VIEWFont Size This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected Author: Hessiquio Balderas Date: 8/19/2008 This content is protected Pacquiao here in México is an icon. Despite he has beaten a large list of mexican fighters. i´ve gone to cover many fights here in mexico (all over the country) and its amazing to see how the ring is the dirt floor, no ropes, no real referi, just two guys beating each other without boxing trunks, without boxing shoes, just their daily outfit. Wether its boots and pants. But they want to be Pacquiao. You would hear the introducctions as Juan Antonio ``El Pacquiao`` Martinez. Or in other venues the crowd would scream to the fighter who is agressive ``lets go Pacquiao`` this gives you an idea of how big Pacquiao is here in Mexico. For his fight against David Diaz, Paquiao was a big, or i should said a huge favorite to win. I conducted a poll in the street here in mexico and 90 % of the people wanted Pacman to win. They didnt know who Diaz was in the first place. Pacquiao brings that plus that Mike Tyson used to bring to his fights and that is exciment, he comes to fight and that is what people all over the World like, México is no exception The other fighter that is as popular as Manny here in Mexico is Jorge ``Travieso`` Arce, obviously De La Hoya, and Julio Cesar Chavez jr. You would mention the names of many other mexican fighters here in Mexico, such as Terra Garcia, Cochulito Montiel, Edgar Sosa, Christian Mijares, etc. And they are known to the hardcore boeing fans, but sadly the general public doesn´t know who they are, but they know who Manny Pacquiao is, its like asking who Bruce Lee was and everybody knows that. When you reach that level, its when you know you´re a superstar World wide and that is the result of one thing. Dedication and hard work. De La Hoya vs Pacquiao: its a mismatch, everyone says that. i believe that to a certain point, but i also believe that Roach is right about oscar not pulling the trigger anymore. Look at his bout with Floyd jr. There were moments where Oscar would just stand in front of Floyd without punching, but recieving punches from all angles. When that happens and you stay in front of an oponent like that its not only that you are tired is that you cant pull the trigger. i think oscar is very strong for the first few rounds, but pacquiao its very strong for 12 rounds. And lets not forget that Steve Forbes can´t punch and is a small fighter and if he was able to do some damage to oscar, pacquiao should and will cause a lot of damage, speed is power and speed kills and pacquiao has that and a punch, he should take the fight get that huge payday and move on and probably begin to search for a few more fights and then retire. The people in Mexico are still a bit angry with Oscar because he beat Julio Cesar Chavez twice. I wouldn´t be surprise if Manny is the favorite here in Mexico over De La Hoya
Nice read. Good to know that Pac is widely respected in Mexico. I was under the assumption that he was more likely hated than loved or even just respected there, especially before the Oscar fight. BTW the article never mentioned JMM and I also assumed that he would be huge in Mexico. I wonder if he's widely loved and gets the rock star treatment amongst the casual sports fans there or if he is just big amongst the Mexican boxing fans.
