HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. (November 28, 2008) — Two-time BWAA Trainer of the Year, World-Famous Freddie Roach is confident that his charge MANNY PACQUIAO, boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter and five-division world champion, will not only beat “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya, but will knock him out within nine rounds.
“Oscar is 35 and a part-time fighter. It’s obvious that father time is catching up with him,” said Roach. “Look at his face after his fight against Stevie Forbes who is a light hitter. I’ve never seen Oscar’s face look like that against opponents who were bigger, stronger and better. His stamina has decreased and he’s not the fastest learner when it comes to new things. Manny is Oscar’s polar opposite when it comes to those factors. Manny can flat-out fight three minutes of every round for 12 rounds and he picks up a new lesson the first time it’s shown to him. Oscar works well when he can follow a script, but he showed in his fight against Mayweather that he’s even having problems doing that. Our game plan was working well the first half of the fight and then he stopped. Manny not only has the discipline and the stamina to follow a script in the ring, he has also become a master at improvising. And I think that may be the difference in this fight.
“The career cycle of any athlete is finite. Good habits and good genes can postpone the erosion of an athlete’s talents, but eventually the inevitable catches up with even the best of them. The cruelest examples in professional sports are in boxing. Boxing is a young man’s game and it’s dangerous to overstay your welcome. You don’t have to look any further than these four examples: Rocky Marciano ending Joe Louis’ career, Larry Holmes ending Muhammad Ali’s career, Terry Norris ending Sugar Ray Leonard’s career and Oscar De La Hoya ending Julio Cesar Chavez’s career. Sure they may have fought on after their losses, but their careers as elite fighters were over. Next week, the shoe is gong to be on the other foot and Oscar is going to find out first-hand how Julio Cesar Chavez felt the night he lost to Oscar the first time, June 7, 1996.”
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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” continues with a new episode This Sunday! November 30, at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. Episodes one and two are available on HBO ON DEMAND.
“The Dream Match,” the 12-round welterweight collision between two of boxing’s biggest attractions, De La Hoya and 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. It is 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.
Tickets for the closed circuit telecast, priced at $100 (preferred seating) and $60, not including handling fees, are now on sale at the MGM Grand ticket office outlets, at the Concierge desk and the KÀ Theatre box office. Tickets are also available by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 702-474-4000. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Circus Circus, TI, Monte Carlo, Excalibur Luxor and New York-New York also will host closed circuit viewing and tickets are on sale at each individual property’s box office outlets or by phone with a major credit card at 866-799-7711.