Pacquiao wants to close deal or move on

Whether it’s Soto or DLH it will still be a tremendous match up. The only thing is like it was mentioned, he is not as big a star. I don’t see Pacman knocking him out, more like a UD with DLH. But then there is the thought that the catch weight is a major difference. Specially for someone whom has been in the division, like DLH, for so many years.

But by the way that they are standing with their fingers spread as so a little photoshop work could backup that briefcase situation…

I totally agree with the article. The weight difference is too big for this fight to be taken seriously. So he wants the weight in his favor, the money in his favor, it will be fought in his {size of} ring, in his choice of venue, on his preferred date, in front of a predominately Oscar oriented crowd.

Remember the scene from “White men can’t Jump”, where Billy is told to make a shot from one end of the court to the other, and is then told it has to be a hook shot, to varied levels of hilarity. His response, “Am I allowed to use my right arm? Do I have to get on my knees?” (I paraphrase) is what this fight keeps reminding me of. At some point I can imagine Manny looking Oscar in the eye and saying to him, “Am I actually allowed to hit you in this fight, or am I just supposed to be a bystander in the soap opera that is the last stand of the great Oscar De La Hoya?”

I don’t want to see this fight happen. I’d rather see Manny make a couple of solid defences at light-weight (which is still the heaviest weight he has ever fought at, not that Oscar cares about the 12 pound difference, cos hey, this is business…..) and then see if he feels like fighting a light welter like (maybe) Hatton, Kendall Holt, or even Ricardo Torres, whom I still rate very highly despite his last fight.

I don’t think Manny would necessarily get trashed against Oscar, but I do believe wholeheartedly that he would lose. He is the best pound for pounder in the world in my eyes, by some margin (and I only believe that the margin would be lessened, rather than his lead usurped, by Floyd Mayweather putting on his gloves again), and I think he needs to realise that legacies are about more than money. He has fought and beaten great fighters, he has much left to do if he wants to do it, but this fight is a pantomime and Manny should steer clear unless the money now means more to him than I had previously suspected.

If that is the case, then he has more than earned it, but if he looks at the way in which Oscar’s cash craving has cost him the respect of a lot of people in the latest part of his career, he may yet decide that the career path is a more worthwhile legacy to have than milking the cash cow for all it is worth at every possible opportunity.

Oscar finally realized he has nothing to gain in this fight, and everything to lose. Rather than risking virtually losing his legacy he is now pricing himself out of the fight.

If you can remember back about 23 years, you can build up a little man/big man very well. In a sense, like the commenter said above, Oscar has a ton to lose, but if this is his retirement bout, maybe that sting is a bit less. But this is the biggest money fight he probably has left on the table unless Money May decides he wants to make that one last big money fight. Because without Oscar, Mayweather is not getting another one. At least one of this magnitude.

For Manny, he has everything to gain. He becomes a huge draw if stands and trades with De La Hoya, even if he loses in a valiant effort. And it’s probably the biggest money fight of his career.

But looking at that last photo, the size difference is pretty big. Not sure how I feel about that just yet.