De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao Press Conference Space Center Houston

Pacquiao says he is 'hungrier, faster' than De La Hoya
Fighters visit Space Center as part of tour for Dec. 6 bout in Vegas

By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 3, 2008, 11:15PM

There were plenty of reasons why Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao would never meet in a boxing ring.

One was too old or one was too young. One was too fast or one was too strong.

One was too ...

“What does it matter?” asked De La Hoya. “In the end, we just wanted to fight.”

So they will in the most anticipated match-up of this and a lot of other years on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

They’re calling it “The Dream Match” and it does fulfill the fantasy of getting probably the world’s most popular boxer against the man who is generally regarded as pound-for-pound the best in the sport.

The 35-year-old De La Hoya is a former champion in six different weight classes; Pacquiao, 29, has held titles in four, including the world lightweight championship he won in June.

They came together on Friday at Space Center Houston as the third stop on a national press tour to drum up even more interest in their fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (HBO pay-per-view) that sold out in less than an hour and generated $17 million, the second-largest live gate in the history of boxing.

“This is one of those events where people are gonna be curious about what’s gonna happen,” De La Hoya said. “It’s nothing new to boxing. In the ‘40s and ‘50s, you always had the welterweight champion move up all the way to heavyweight and fight the big guys.”

Pacquiao, who has never fought at more than the 134 he weighed when he beat David Diaz two months ago, is the one moving up in class to 147 pounds to tangle with the bigger, stronger De La Hoya.

“I’m not worried about my weight,” said Pacquiao, a southpaw who is 47-3-2. “That’s because my regular weight now is more than 155. To make the 134 pounds for my previous fight was hard for me, so this is natural. And for this fight, in my training we’re applying different techniques for Oscar. We’re going to develop my strength and power.”

De La Hoya is 39-5, but is only 3-3 over the past five years, losing to Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Still, the oddsmakers have made the “Golden Boy” an early 2-1 betting favorite based on his strength and what should be a natural size advantage.

Freddy Roach, who was in De La Hoya’s corner for one fight, is now training Pacquiao and says he’s not concerned.

“I keep hearing that Oscar’s too big for Manny,” Roach said. “But that’s not what’s going to win this fight. What’s going to win this fight is speed, speed, speed and we going to win.”

Pacquiao, of the Philippines, is known for his blinding combinations and his relentless attacking style.

“He is a great warrior in the ring, but he’s 35 years old and I’m younger, hungrier and faster,” Pacquiao said.

De La Hoya grins at the talk of the age difference and the images that he’ll be an old man trying to survive inside the ring.

“This is going to be interesting because of my age,” De La Hoya said. “He is the younger guy, the younger lion. He’s faster, but I have the experience.

“I have heard Freddy Roach said, ‘If Oscar was 29 or 28, I would never take this fight.’ So to me it’s such motivation. These are the type of events that get me going, get me fired up.

“I’ll give you one secret here — offset his punches. He’s very fast. But one thing that one of my old trainers told me was that you can have the fastest fighter in the world in front of you. But if you time his punches, you can become faster than he is. I’m gonna work on that and take it from there.”

Pacquiao has won eight straight fights and captured 23 of his last 24 victories by knockout. De La Hoya will bring his still-powerful left hook.

“I’ve been hearing for the past several weeks that Freddy Roach has been talking about how I cannot pull the trigger and how I’m getting old. ... Yes, Freddy knows what I’m going to do in the ring.

“But I know Freddy, too, and I know what he’s going to say in the corner: ‘Houston, we have a problem.”

De La Hoya’s trainer, Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, stepped up to the microphone with a wry grin. Through an interpreter, he said: “Pacquiao has been called a train in the ring. Well, De La Hoya is going to stop that train. He is going to take him out of the railroad.

“Manny Pacquiao is going to be over.”

About 30 minutes later, in the back of the room, Pacquiao grinned.

“It’s easy to say, but it’s hard to do,” he said.

fran.blinebury@chron.com