General Admission

By December 16, 2008General Admission, Opinion

DL Hoya: From boxer to businessman

By Al S. Mendoza

WHAT is a boxer?

He fights with science. He follows the rules of the sweet science to the letter.

His footwork is beyond question, as in the famed Ali Shuffle.

His hand speed is nothing but a blur, as in swift combinations a la Sugar Ray Leonard.

His defense is his offense.

Most of the time, his offense stops even the most feared fighters.

Oscar De La Hoya owns those qualities.

Unfortunately, he dumped all that when he fought Manny Pacquiao on December 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was called the Dream Match.

It was nothing but a dream.

You merely dreamed of a fight that never was.

It was never a match.

It was a mismatch.

The pre-fight pitch that it could be a mismatch as De La Hoya was the overwhelming 2-1 favorite was but a hoax.

It was a mismatch in reverse, courtesy of De La Hoya.

Suddenly, as the fight progressed, Pacquiao was overmatched over the supposed heavy favorite.

To be sure, I’m not about to belittle Pacquiao’s victory.

He fought a superb fight.

He was magnificent as ever.

But while Pacquiao came prepared to win, De La Hoya came prepared to lose.

While Pacquiao willed to win, De La Hoya willed to lose.

Money?

Maybe.

One buff has said, “De La Hoya was willing to lose it because of more money coming his way. Mark my word, but De La Hoya will promote the Pacquiao-Hatton fight.”

He could be right.

Add the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.

Both fights would be absolute purse-breakers!

With De La Hoya’s defeat, there’s no way but more blockbuster money fights coming Pacquiao’s way.

And De La Hoya, too, as he might as well co-promote again the next two Pacquiao fights.

Boxing isn’t just trading punches. Used to.

Boxing, more importantly now for De La Hoya, is trading money.

Boxing, if you know your business, is business.

But I must insist Pacquiao’s eight-round TKO win over De La Hoya was a master stroke. Masterpiece.

As I said, Pacquiao came prepared to win. He did his homework.

De La Hoya also did his homework: He climbed the ring ready to lose.

Even Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s Hall of Fame trainer, knew it: “Oscar did not come to fight. He came to make the weight.”

Before the fight, Roach forced a deal on De La Hoya: Every excess pound of the catch-weight 147 lbs should cost De La Hoya $3 million.

So to make sure he’d see his nearly $20 million fight purse intact, De La Hoya weighed in at a fool-proof 145 lbs on weighing day.

What is a businessman again?

One who puts premium on money over anything, everything, including his principles.

I miss De La Hoya the boxer.

***

(Hep-hep hooray to Melchor Co, who celebrated with smashing success the first anniversary of Honda Cars Ilocos in San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte, on November 28. Cheers, Mel!)

(Readers may reach columnist at alsol47@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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