Why does Oscar get away with cherry picking Pac?

Cmon on man. No-one picks Oscar as an opponent. He chooses you. Fight was at 147 because it had to be. No-one would have bought a superfeather/lightweight going straight to 154. Fight was seen as a mismatch at 147 as it was. It was in Oscar's best interest as the promoter for the fight to be sellable. It only did 1 million (Mayweather-DLH doubled that) because Pac was given little chance. God knows how it would've bombed had it been at 154.

The only concern from Pac's camp was money. If they were going to be taking such a risky fight where their fighter was given little chance and possibly facing a beating which could derail his career, they wanted to be compensated accordingly. That is why they pulled out of the fight and weren't going to accept Oscar not giving them the percentage they wanted. That's right, they pulled out of negotiations, fight was dead. Oscar then came back and bended to their demands, which shows how much he wanted the fight. With Oscar it was always take it or leave it with his opponents, he never believed in negotiations.

 

Interesting article I found. Apparently the Phillipine Games and Amusement Board asked the WBC to have the fight cancelled as they didn't want their national sporting treasure taking an unnecessary beating. Sulaiman denied it but called the fight a mismatch that shouldn't be happening.
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http://www.groundreport.com/Sports/Pacquiao-de-la-Hoya-Match-in-Jeopardy/2870184
Pacquiao-de la Hoya Match in Jeopardy?

by

This content is protected

September 25, 2008


The Pacquiao-de la Hoya match scheduled for December 6, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada may be in jeopardy. The Philippines' boxing regulator, Games and Amusement Board (GAB) asked the World Boxing Council (WBC) to cancel the scheduled match.

GAB Chairman Eric Buhain said that the Pacquaio-de la Hoya boxing fight is a mismatch, citing the de la Hoya's clear superiority in terms of reach, height and built over the much smaller Pacquiao.

WBC said the the boxing fight can no longer be cancelled because the contact has already been signed.

Sports authorities in the Philippines are one in saying that the boxing bout between Pacquiao and de la Hoya is all about money and that Pacquiao has no chance at all of winning because of de la Hoya's sheer superiority in built. They are worried that Pacquiao's own life may be put at risk owing to the obvious mismatch.

One possible option for GAB is to cancel the boxing license of Pacquiao and force him to return home. With this scenario, Pacquiao will have a ligitimate reason to walk away from the fight.

Pacquiao is expected to earn $15-20 million dollars in this boxing fight.


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http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/09/25/08/wbc-no-request-stop-pacquiao-de-la-hoya-fight

The World Boxing Council has not received any request from the Philippine Games and Amusements Board (GAB) to stop Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao from his welterweight super bout against six-time world champion Oscar de la Hoya in Las Vegas on December 6.

“We have not received such a request but I personally believe that it’s a match that should not be promoted because of the extreme differences in height and weight," WBC president Jose Sulaiman told Manila-based sports and boxing analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz in an overseas telephone interview.
Pacquiao stands 5' 6 1/2" while de la Hoya is four inches taller.

Besides, Sulaiman added, he doubts if the WBC as an organization can stop the megabuck clash from taking place in Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The WBC boss said that he and Buhain agreed on the point of the big height difference between Pacquiao and de la Hoya.

"He (Pacquiao) is not considering the serious differences where a lower weight beat a higher weight and in this case is not moving from one division to the next but from one to three more divisions," Sulaiman said.
Sulaiman's statement came after Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez quoted GAB chairman Eric Buhain as saying that he (Buhain) had asked the WBC to cancel the non-title fight since Pacquiao has no chance against de la Hoya.

"This boxing bout is just about money. Pacquiao has no chance. We have to protect him. He is a national treasure," Rodriguez said.
Reached for comment, Buhain told Nathanielsz that what he told lawmakers during a budget hearing was about his concerns with the disparity in height of the two boxers.

The GAB chief said he was surprised at the story that came out Thursday morning about the supposed call made to the WBC. The statement from Buhain was contained in a press release from Rodriguez's office.
In a separate report by Agence France-Presse, Buhain said his request was denied by the WBC since it came late in the day.

Malacañang, meanwhile, distanced itself from the issue, saying the people should respect and trust Pacquiao's decision.

"I feel that we should respect and trust him enough to make an intelligent decision on what’s best for him and his career," deputy Palace spokesman Lorelei Fajardo said Thursday, adding that Filipinos will rally behind Pacquiao no matter what the result may be.

"A defeat does not diminish his glory or the honor he has won for our nation. He will always remain a modern day hero for his courage and bold daring," she added.

Roy Medina, abs-cbnNEWS.com

 

lol ain't that the truth

 

Another good article pre-Pac/DLH:

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=16903&more=1

Is De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao In Jeopardy?

By Richard Wacha: Apparently the mega fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao is already in jeopardy due in part because of disagreement over the purse split between the two fighters. De La Hoya's team is offering a 70-30 split, whereas Pacquiao's team is looking for a 60-40. Also at issue is glove size, with Pacquiao wanting the smaller 8-oz gloves, which allow for more speed and power, while De La Hoya wants the bigger 10-oz gloves. Ultimately, the glove issue probably won't be as critical as the money, but there's still a long way to go before the two sides come to an agreement on purse split..

The fight itself hasn't exactly pleased many boxing fans. I don't know if De La Hoya thought of the ramifications ahead of time of him selecting a super featherweight as his last opponent for his December 6th bout. While there are many fans that see the fight as interesting due to the popularity of the two fighters, as well as the size differences between them, perhaps even more fans are angry with De La Hoya for choosing such a small fighter as an opponent. I think for many fans they wouldn't mind it so much if De La Hoya hadn't done it before, namely against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Steve Forbes - De La Hoya's last two opponents.

However, for him to now do it a third time consecutively, and to drop down as the super featherweight division to find an opponent, it strikes some people as De La Hoya trying to cherry pick an opponent. In hindsight, De La Hoya probably would have been better off looking at fighting a top welterweight, someone like Antonio Margarito, Andre Berto or even Miguel Cotto as his last opponent. For obvious reasons, a fight against Cotto, who was recently defeated by Margarito in an 11th round TKO, would also likely be frowned upon by the boxing public, making it seem like De La Hoya was somehow avoiding Margarito.

But it wouldn't be nearly as bad as De La Hoya's choice of facing the smaller Pacquiao, which seems to have been a poorly thought out idea by De La Hoya. I think the public wouldn't mind De La Hoya facing Cotto, or even Berto, the WBC welterweight title holder, but they obviously would prefer that De La Hoya fight Margarito. That probably won't be happening, though, because Margarito is too dangerous for a fighter as old and as seemingly past his prime as the 35 year-old De La Hoya is.

Minus that, I think Berto would be the best option for De La Hoya at this point. Berto is still undefeated, small like Cotto at 5'8", and would probably have trouble with De La Hoya's long reach advantage. I doubt that De La Hoya would win given Berto's incredible speed and power, not to mention his youth, but at least De La Hoya wouldn't have to take so much criticism from the public. Berto hits hard and reminds me of a more powerful version of Mayweather. In terms of excitement, a bout with Berto would be worth watching, because at least there would be a good chance that De La Hoya could lose the fight. With Pacquiao, I don't get that same feeling because of his lack of size.

Article posted on 12.08.2008

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Not to change the subject, but damn, Berto is still in the same position today he was in 2 1/2 years ago, young, undefeated and still searching for a breakout fight. Dibella's ****ed up with him