Oscar's Pride

Oscar de la Hoya will not allow himself to be knocked out by Manny Pacquiao, his pride will not allow it.  If Oscar does not knock out Pac by the 5th round, Oscar will look to retire from the fight through an injury.  

There is a good chance that Oscar Kongs the Pac-Man by the end of the 5th for all the clear reasons.  Bigger, stronger, better technician.  Pac has been hurt fighting below lightweight.  Oscar can easily knock-out Pac if he hits him.  Oscar doesn't even need to score with combos, if he lands a big left hook or a straight right off a blinder jab, Pac's done. 

But if that does not happen by the 5th round, Oscar will look for the exit. Against Trinidad and Mosley, Oscar could not punch down the stretch.  Against Mayweather if he had he would've won.  But none of those guys do what Pac does.  Two of them could, but they don't.

What will the fight look like if we hear "seconds out" for the start of the 6th? It will be a Pac-attack.  And, while Pac can't truly cave Oscar's knees or blast him to the ribs ala Hopkins, Pac can swarm him, truly embodying the word relentless.  

 I will never see Oscar de la Hoya trapped in a corner, purely looking to hold, throwing one punch for every four that are landed against him.  That won't happen. The function of the rotator-cuff injury, real or not, will be to give Oscar a way out while maintaining his own perception of pride.

I'm watching this fight in part to see if I'm right.  What happens in the 6th round and beyond if Oscar's a punching a bag?  Is he really going to grind it out against a tornado?  No way.  If Oscar can't Kong Pac, Oscar will make sure this is a truly technical knock out.