BIG BEAR, CALIF. (November 14, 2008) – In an exclusive video interview with FoxSports.com’s Mark Kriegel, 10-time world champion Oscar De La Hoya, at his training camp in Big Bear, Calif., cooly countered trainer Freddie Roach’s prediction of a ninth-round knockout victory by his star pupil, WBC lightweight champion and boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Manny Pacquiao, when they meet, on December 6, in a 12-round welterweight super fight.
Interview highlights include:
Mark Kriegel: A few weeks ago I spoke to your former trainer, Freddie Roach…
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh that one. I’ve had five or six…
Mark Kriegel:…yes, that former trainer, who said his fighter, Manny Pacquiao, would knock you out in nine. That he would wear you down, and beat down the old man and that you would fall in nine. I’m wondering your response to that?
Oscar De La Hoya: Oh, my response to that is that we’ll catch him in five so we don’t get to nine….It’s going to be an explosive fight. It’s going to be a tough fight. I think whoever catches who first is going down.
Mark Kriegel: Do you harbor any resentment against Freddie for saying that?
Oscar De La Hoya: No, no, not at all. Freddie Roach is a nice guy and I have all the respect for him. I obviously know he has to pump up his fighter he has to pump himself up. As you know when he trained Bernard Hopkins, he told him after the fight [loss to Joe Calzaghe] that he has to retire. When he trained Israel Vazquez [after loss to Rafael Marquez], he told him ‘you have to retire,’ now when he trained me and now he’s telling me I have to retire. So, now that we’ve left Freddie Roach, us three fighters…
Mark Kriegel: Unretired
Oscar De La Hoya: …yeah. You have Hopkins beating Pavlik without Freddie. You have Israel he beat Marquez without Freddie. And so now I’m going to beat Pacquiao without Freddie.
Mark Kriegel: When you look back on your career … what was your shining moment, what is the moment that you are most proud of, the fight you are most proud of?
Oscar De La Hoya: The fight I was most proud of was the first Julio Cesar Chavez fight because everything was perfect. It was almost a perfect fight for me. It happened in such a blur. I don’t really remember it. It happened so fast. I was in great shape. I was floating in the ring. I was just floating. I don’t remember what combinations I threw. How the footwork was. Nothing. It just happened so fast. And that was probably one of my perfect moments.
To view the seven-minute interview in its entirety, please click this link:
http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=foxsports&vid=79e667c2-ead0-4968-ba1b-5318baa893ac&from=Fox%20Sports&tab=s1200077588468
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Manny Pacquiao’s ONLY Los Angeles Media Day Workout, takes place This Monday! November 17, beginning at 1 P.M. PT at the Wild Card Boxing Club (1123 North Vine Street, Hollywood, Calif. 90038). Manny will do interviews BEFORE his workout.
HBO’s Emmy-Award-winning all-access franchise “24/7” returns with Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao in starring roles. The four-episode series “De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7”premieres This Sunday! Nov. 16th at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
“The Dream Match,” the welterweight collision between two of boxing’s biggest attractions, Olympic gold medalist and 10-time world champion “The Golden Boy” OSCAR DE LA HOYA and current Ring Magazine No. 1-ranked pound for pound champion MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO, is scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 6 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, the bout will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, Inc., presented by Tequila Cazadores and sponsored by Ceverza Tecate, DeWalt Tools, Full Throttle Energy Drink, and Southwest Airlines, the fight sold out in hours, making it the second largest grossing gate in boxing history.
The De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao pay-per-view telecast will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.
