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De la Hoya Vs. Pacquaio

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) — US boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya said Monday he has dropped pounds but no punching power ahead of his December 6 welterweight showdown here with Philippines star Manny Pacquiao.
De la Hoya, training at the Big Bear retreat in the California mountains, has had to lose weight but has already reached the 147-pound limit to meet Pacquiao, who will have to gain weight to set up the "Dream Match."
"Training camp is going well. Being up here has once again ignited that fire in my belly that hasn't been ignited in many years," de la Hoya said.
"Now that many weeks have passed by, I feel very comfortable with welterweight. I don't think we're sacrificing any power. We're punching harder than ever."
De La Hoya said that when he first reached the welterweight limit, "I did feel a little light headed and weak" and noted that stamina "can be a big problem."
"I don't know how my body is going to react come fight night," he said. "Conditioning is my primary concern."
Pacquiao will enter the ring 47-3 with two drawn and 35 knockouts while de la Hoya, in his first welterweight fight since a 2000 knockout of Arturo Gatti, is 39-5 with 30 knockouts.
The contest is set for 12 rounds but don't expect it to go the distance, de la Hoya said.
"I will be extremely disappointed if this fight does not end in a knockout," de la Hoya said. "It would be a total disaster for me."
De la Hoya wanted to push the idea that Pacquiao might be larger than him on fight night, although it would be a shock.
"It actually doesn't shock me one bit. I've made 145 already. I feel very strong," de la Hoya said. "It has been no problem. My way of training and eating has been very disciplined."
De la Hoya shrugged off criticism from Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer. "It's his way of pumping up his fighter. Me and Manny Pacquiao, we don't have to say anything bad about each other," de la Hoya said.
"We will put boxing back on the worldwide stage. I beat a young lion like Manny Pacquiao to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, it helps me prove I can do this and move on and still be successful.
"I'm oozing with motivation, that's for sure."
That stems from a seven-fight deal worth at last 35 million dollars that Pacquiao signed with de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions in September of 2006, only to return bonus money two months later and stay with promoter Bob Arum.
The broken deal led to a legal fight that inspires de la Hoya still.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fight Manny Pacquiao," said de la Hoya. "That's one of the reasons this fight is so personal to me."
"We signed the deal and he turned his back on me and he's going to have to pay on December 6," de la Hoya said. "That moment is what makes it personal. I don't want him to talk about how he honors honor. He didn't honor me. I'm not going to honor him."
De la Hoya lost to Floyd Mayweather last year in the richest fight in boxing history but this one is unlikely to approach those record numbers despite loyal backers for both fighters, with the struggling economy a likely culprit.
"Obviously it's a big concern for us because of the economy when you have a big fight like this one," de la Hoya said. "People are picking and choosing what fights they want to buy and see and I think they're waiting for this one."