De La Hoya-Pacquiao boxing match
Encyclopedia
Oscar De La Hoya
vs. Manny Pacquiao
, also billed as The Dream Match, was a professional boxing
welterweight
superfight. The bout took place on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
, Nevada
, United States. Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided not to continue with the fight before the start of the ninth round. The card was a co-production of Bob Arum
's Top Rank Boxing
and De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions
and was aired live on pay-per-view
(PPV) on HBO PPV. The fight is notable for propelling Manny Pacquiao to full-blown superstar status in much of the western world (mostly in The United States), as Oscar De La Hoya symbolically "passed the torch", so to speak, to Pacquiao.
Despite no title belts being disputed, the bout received a lot of publicity since the two boxers were decorated, with Pacquiao being the current number one pound for pound boxer
in the world as judged by The Ring
, and a five-time world champion in five different weight divisions (Pacquiao was the reigning WBC lightweight champion at the time of the bout). Meanwhile, De La Hoya was an Olympic gold medalist and past holder of 10 world titles in six weight divisions.
Pacquiao had to step up two weight divisions (from lightweight), and De La Hoya had to go down one weight division (from light middleweight), to be eligible for the bout's welterweight division.
talking with ESPN boxing analyst Dan Rafael. Larry then presented the idea to Golden Boy Promotions
CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank
CEO Bob Arum
. Bob presented the idea to Manny Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach. It was even mentioned on the PPV broadcast that it was Larry's idea, even mentioning Dan Rafael by name. Freddie Roach since the De La Hoya- Mayweather fight has said in the media and in the De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7 series, press conferences, promos leading to the Dream Match that Oscar "can't pull the trigger anymore."
), De La Hoya decided to close out his career with three fights in 2008. The first would be a tune-up bout in May before finishing with two mega bouts in September and December respectively. De La Hoya defeated Stevie Forbes in the May tune-up bout in preparation for Mayweather. Due to Mayweather's unexpected retirement however, Ricky Hatton
was the new potential candidate to fight De La Hoya on September 20. However, Hatton rejected the offer because he felt the scheduled date was too close to his last bout. De La Hoya then decided to pass on a fight in September to set the stage for a showdown against either Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto
, should Cotto win his fight against Antonio Margarito
in July. After Cotto was defeated by Margarito, it was announced that De La Hoya and Pound For Pound superstar Manny Pacquiao had agreed to fight December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the welterweight limit of 147 lbs. On August 28, 2008, a teleconference was held by Golden Boy Promotions to officially announce the fight.
and Top Rank, Inc.
, the bout was scheduled as a 12-round, non-title fight contested at the 147-pound welterweight
limit. Although Pacquiao
went into the fight recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits have speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya.
Many boxing analysts believed the fight would favor Oscar. Boxing analysts stated that Oscar's size, reach, experience, and good chin made Manny the underdog in this mega fight. Training for the fight Oscar hired trainers Angelo Dundee
, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain
, and young boxing talent Edwin Valero
. Oscar told the news that his team is unbeatable, while Freddie Roach said, "No one is going to be able to help Oscar pull the trigger when he faces Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6".
Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale. The total gate revenues were said to be nearly $17 million dollars. That amount apparently gave the bout the second-largest gate revenue in boxing history (after the De La Hoya-Mayweather Jr. fight on May 5, 2007 which generated $18.4 million in gate revenue).
In round 7, Pacquiao lands a jab as De La Hoya misses his; Pacquiao unleashes another flurry of punches as De La Hoya's legs almost gave out, just as he ceased punching back. His uppercut misses Pacquiao as his opponent releases more jabs to end round 7.
The fight is stopped before the start of the ninth round to award Pacquiao the victory.
Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80-71 (Pacquiao won all rounds) and one scoring it at 79–72 (Pacquiao won 7 rounds and lost 1). After the bout trainer Freddy Roach stated, "We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot." Confirming Roach's pre-fight predictions that he'd grown too old, De La Hoya crossed the ring to Pacquiao's corner after the bout was stopped and told Roach, "You're right Freddie. I don't have it anymore." When asked by reporters whether he would continue fighting, De La Hoya responded, "My heart still wants to fight, that's for sure. But when your physical doesn't respond, what can you do? I have to be smart and make sure I think about my future plans."
(1 million buys) in 2004, and De La Hoya–Trinidad
(1.4 million buys) in 1999.
The PPV card was the highest-grossing PPV event of the year in North America, ahead of UFC 91
(Randy Couture
vs. Brock Lesnar
) and WrestleMania XXIV
.
KOs
Sergio Medina in the first round to retain the junior featherweight title. Victor Ortíz
KOs
Jeff Resto in the second round. Daniel Jacobs
KOs Victor Lares in the second round. Danny Garcia
defeats
Jose Alfredo Lugo via unanimous decision. Jose Angel Beranza defeats 
Jesus Rojas via unanimous decision. Richie Mepranum
defeats Cesar Ganigal Lopez via unanimous decision. Robert Marroquin KOs Isaac Hidalgo in the first round. Adrien Broner KOs Scott Furney in the first round. Sergio Caro KOs 
Steven Sampson in the sixth round.
Oscar de la Hoya
Oscar De La Hoya is a retired American boxer of Mexican descent. Nicknamed "The Golden Boy", De La Hoya won a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games shortly after graduating from Garfield High School. De La Hoya comes from a boxing family. His grandfather Vicente, father Joel Sr., and brother...
vs. Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the...
, also billed as The Dream Match, was a professional boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
superfight. The bout took place on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, United States. Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided not to continue with the fight before the start of the ninth round. The card was a co-production of Bob Arum
Bob Arum
Robert "Bob" Arum is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. He also worked for the US Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York in the tax division....
's Top Rank Boxing
Top Rank Boxing
Top Rank, Inc. is a Las Vegas based boxing promotion company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973. Since its founding, the company has promoted several world class fighters, such as Muhammad Ali, JI Penalver, Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Durán, Joe Frazier,...
and De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions
Golden Boy Promotions
Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is a combat sport promotional firm started by former boxer six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya...
and was aired live on pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
(PPV) on HBO PPV. The fight is notable for propelling Manny Pacquiao to full-blown superstar status in much of the western world (mostly in The United States), as Oscar De La Hoya symbolically "passed the torch", so to speak, to Pacquiao.
Despite no title belts being disputed, the bout received a lot of publicity since the two boxers were decorated, with Pacquiao being the current number one pound for pound boxer
Ring Magazine pound for pound
The Ring Magazine Pound for Pound is the official list of the current pound for pound professional boxing rankings distributed by The Ring.-Top 10 rankings:-See also:* List of current world boxing champions* List of boxing weight classes...
in the world as judged by The Ring
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
, and a five-time world champion in five different weight divisions (Pacquiao was the reigning WBC lightweight champion at the time of the bout). Meanwhile, De La Hoya was an Olympic gold medalist and past holder of 10 world titles in six weight divisions.
Pacquiao had to step up two weight divisions (from lightweight), and De La Hoya had to go down one weight division (from light middleweight), to be eligible for the bout's welterweight division.
Idea of the bout
The ideas of having De La Hoya and Pacquiao fight came from HBO boxing analyst Larry MerchantLarry Merchant
Larry Merchant is an American former sportswriter, a longtime commentator for HBO Sports presentations of HBO World Championship Boxing, Boxing After Dark and HBO pay-per-view telecasts, and is considered "the greatest television boxing analyst of all time" by ESPN Boxing analyst Dan Rafael.-Life...
talking with ESPN boxing analyst Dan Rafael. Larry then presented the idea to Golden Boy Promotions
Golden Boy Promotions
Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is a combat sport promotional firm started by former boxer six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya...
CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank
Top Rank
Top Rank may refer to:*Top Rank, Las Vegas based boxing promotion company formed in 1973* Top Rank Records, 1950s subsidiary record label of the Rank Organisation, British company which ran from 1937 to 1996...
CEO Bob Arum
Bob Arum
Robert "Bob" Arum is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. He also worked for the US Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York in the tax division....
. Bob presented the idea to Manny Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach. It was even mentioned on the PPV broadcast that it was Larry's idea, even mentioning Dan Rafael by name. Freddie Roach since the De La Hoya- Mayweather fight has said in the media and in the De La Hoya/Pacquiao 24/7 series, press conferences, promos leading to the Dream Match that Oscar "can't pull the trigger anymore."
Buildup
After De La Hoya's May 5 loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in 2007 (see De La Hoya-Mayweather boxing matchDe La Hoya-Mayweather boxing match
De La Hoya vs. Mayweather: The World Awaits was a super welterweight superfight which took place on May 5, 2007, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada between six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya and undefeated four-division champion Floyd Mayweather Jr....
), De La Hoya decided to close out his career with three fights in 2008. The first would be a tune-up bout in May before finishing with two mega bouts in September and December respectively. De La Hoya defeated Stevie Forbes in the May tune-up bout in preparation for Mayweather. Due to Mayweather's unexpected retirement however, Ricky Hatton
Ricky Hatton
Richard John Hatton MBE, more commonly known as Ricky "the Hitman" Hatton, , is a former British professional boxer, and currently a promoter....
was the new potential candidate to fight De La Hoya on September 20. However, Hatton rejected the offer because he felt the scheduled date was too close to his last bout. De La Hoya then decided to pass on a fight in September to set the stage for a showdown against either Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto
Miguel Cotto
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and the reigning WBA light middleweight champion. He is the younger brother of contender Jose Miguel Cotto and cousin of Abner Cotto...
, should Cotto win his fight against Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a former WBA, WBO, & IBF welterweight champion...
in July. After Cotto was defeated by Margarito, it was announced that De La Hoya and Pound For Pound superstar Manny Pacquiao had agreed to fight December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the welterweight limit of 147 lbs. On August 28, 2008, a teleconference was held by Golden Boy Promotions to officially announce the fight.
Pre-fight hype
Presented by Golden Boy PromotionsGolden Boy Promotions
Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is a combat sport promotional firm started by former boxer six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya...
and Top Rank, Inc.
Top Rank Boxing
Top Rank, Inc. is a Las Vegas based boxing promotion company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973. Since its founding, the company has promoted several world class fighters, such as Muhammad Ali, JI Penalver, Oscar De La Hoya, Roberto Durán, Joe Frazier,...
, the bout was scheduled as a 12-round, non-title fight contested at the 147-pound welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
limit. Although Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the...
went into the fight recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits have speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya.
Many boxing analysts believed the fight would favor Oscar. Boxing analysts stated that Oscar's size, reach, experience, and good chin made Manny the underdog in this mega fight. Training for the fight Oscar hired trainers Angelo Dundee
Angelo Dundee
Angelo Dundee is an American boxing cornerman. He is best known for his work with Muhammad Ali , and has worked with 15 world boxing champions, including Sugar Ray Leonard, José Nápoles, George Foreman, Jimmy Ellis, Carmen Basilio, Luis Rodriguez and Willie Pastrano.-Professional career:Born in...
, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain
Ignacio Beristáin
Ignacio Beristáin is a Mexican trainer in the sport of boxing. Beristain is a member of the Boxing Hall of Fame and is considered one of the greatest trainers in the history of boxing.-Training career:...
, and young boxing talent Edwin Valero
Edwin Valero
Edwin Valero was a Venezuelan professional boxer. He was born in Bolero Alto, and raised in El Vigía ....
. Oscar told the news that his team is unbeatable, while Freddie Roach said, "No one is going to be able to help Oscar pull the trigger when he faces Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6".
Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale. The total gate revenues were said to be nearly $17 million dollars. That amount apparently gave the bout the second-largest gate revenue in boxing history (after the De La Hoya-Mayweather Jr. fight on May 5, 2007 which generated $18.4 million in gate revenue).
The fight
Manny Pacquiao soundly defeated Oscar De La Hoya, surprising many pre-fight analysts who had predicted a victory by De La Hoya. The fight ended at the beginning of the 9th round after Oscar and his corner threw in the towel.Rounds 1–4
On round 1, De La Hoya's opening punches missed Pacquiao; Pacquiao's own straight left then a combo connects. The boxers exchange punches, with another Pacquiao straight left to end the round. At the start of the second round, a double jab by De La Hoya persuades Pacquiao to retreat. Only the second of De La Hoya's two combinations hits Pacquiao. A combo from Pacquiao leaves De La Hoya's face reddened. A flurry of punches from Pacquiao ends the round. The third round was more of the same as De La Hoya wasn't able to answer Pacquiao's combos.Rounds 5–7
Pacquiao unleashes a flurry of punches in round 5; De La Hoya saw it but didn't react fast enough. De La Hoya himself lands a body shot and a couple of hooks, but the two boxers exchange punches at the end of the round. The next round began as the last ended, with the men exchanging jabs. Pacquiao appears winded as he missed a left hook, but the follow-up lands on target. Pacquiao lands a right, and a four-punch combo to end the round.In round 7, Pacquiao lands a jab as De La Hoya misses his; Pacquiao unleashes another flurry of punches as De La Hoya's legs almost gave out, just as he ceased punching back. His uppercut misses Pacquiao as his opponent releases more jabs to end round 7.
Round 8 and aftermath
Pacquiao pursues De La Hoya's body but was warned by referee Tony Weeks to "keep them up" (keep punches above the belt). De La Hoya's right connects, but Pacquiao's combo pins De La Hoya in the corner. Another left by Pacquiao dazes the Mexican-American. Another combo wobbles De La Hoya. Pacquiao throws another combo as De La Hoya goes for the body. The Filipino unleashes a four-punch combo to end the round.The fight is stopped before the start of the ninth round to award Pacquiao the victory.
Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80-71 (Pacquiao won all rounds) and one scoring it at 79–72 (Pacquiao won 7 rounds and lost 1). After the bout trainer Freddy Roach stated, "We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot." Confirming Roach's pre-fight predictions that he'd grown too old, De La Hoya crossed the ring to Pacquiao's corner after the bout was stopped and told Roach, "You're right Freddie. I don't have it anymore." When asked by reporters whether he would continue fighting, De La Hoya responded, "My heart still wants to fight, that's for sure. But when your physical doesn't respond, what can you do? I have to be smart and make sure I think about my future plans."
Business
On December 10, 2008, HBO announced that the fight generated 1.25 million PPV buys totaling more than $70 million in PPV revenue. This fight was only the fourth non-heavyweight bout to have more than one million buys at that time, along with De La Hoya–Mayweather Jr. (2.4 million buys) in May 2007, De La Hoya–HopkinsBernard Hopkins
Bernard Hopkins Jr, known as The Executioner is an American boxer and the current Ring Magazine and WBC light heavyweight champion...
(1 million buys) in 2004, and De La Hoya–Trinidad
Félix Trinidad
Félix 'Tito' Trinidad, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional boxer, considered one of the best in Puerto Rico's history. After winning five National Amateur Championships in Puerto Rico, he debuted as a professional when he was 17. He won his first world championship when he defeated Maurice Blocker...
(1.4 million buys) in 1999.
The PPV card was the highest-grossing PPV event of the year in North America, ahead of UFC 91
UFC 91
UFC 91: Couture vs. Lesnar was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 15, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event featured the return of UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture versus Brock Lesnar in a title...
(Randy Couture
Randy Couture
Randy Duane Couture is a retired American mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, actor, a three-time former heavyweight champion, two-time former light-heavyweight champion, former interim light heavyweight champion and UFC 13 tournament winner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
vs. Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar
Brock Edward Lesnar is an American mixed martial artist, actor and a former professional and amateur wrestler. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and is ranked the No.5 Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog...
) and WrestleMania XXIV
WrestleMania XXIV
WrestleMania XXIV was the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida and was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Florida...
.
Undercard
Juan Manuel LopezJuan Manuel López (boxer)
Juan Manuel "Juanma" López Rivera is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur, Lopez represented Puerto Rico at numerous international tournaments including the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games, 2003 Pan American Games and the 2004 Summer Olympics. López's professional career...
KOs
Sergio Medina in the first round to retain the junior featherweight title. Victor OrtízVictor Ortíz
Victor Ortiz is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent and the former WBC welterweight champion.He was previously in the light welterweight division, where he held the USBA & NABO title....
KOs
Jeff Resto in the second round. Daniel JacobsDaniel Jacobs (boxer)
Daniel Jacobs is an American professional boxer and is the former NABO and NABF Middleweight champion.-Early life:Jacobs was born and raised in the Brooklyn residential neighborhood of Brownsville to a Antiguan father and African-American mother. He was raised by his mother, Yvette Jacobs, his...
KOs
Victor Lares in the second round. Danny GarciaDanny Garcia (boxer)
Danny Garcia is an American professional boxer.-Amateur highlights:*2006 U.S. national champion*2005 Tammer Tournament champion*2005 Under-19 national champion-Professional career:...
defeats
Jose Alfredo Lugo via unanimous decision. Jose Angel Beranza defeats Jesus Rojas via unanimous decision. Richie MepranumRichie Mepranum
Richie Mepranum is a Filipino professional boxer and current WBO Oriental flyweight champion.-Fighting style:...
defeats
Cesar Ganigal Lopez via unanimous decision. Robert Marroquin KOs Isaac Hidalgo in the first round. Adrien Broner KOs Scott Furney in the first round. Sergio Caro KOs Steven Sampson in the sixth round.