De la Hoya’s secret weapon: ‘45’

CHICAGO, Illinois – When Oscar De La Hoya published his book, “American Son," (Harper Collins, 2008) a few months ago, it was an indication that he was hanging up his gloves. But now that he is getting ready to face Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao in what is billed as the welterweight “Dream Match" on Dec. 6, 2008 at MGM Grand arena, it appears that the publication of his autobiography co-written by boxing journalist Steve Springer, who covered his career, is premature. In that 268-page book, which this reporter browsed ahead of his press conference with Pacquiao in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday (Oct. 2), the Golden Boy revealed his secret weapon that helped him beat his opponents early in his career even when he was fighting with injury. In the middle of the press conference, this reporter asked De La Hoya if he was going to use his “45" against Pacquiao, the boxing legend was stunned but demurred in answering the question while grasping for words, saying, “Oh, you know about it," while moving his index finger back and forth, but quickly added, “Oh, I am going to make it “35." In his book, the Golden Boy revealed that in his eighth professional fight when he was facing Troy Dorsey, “who made a grunting sound that could be heard throughout the arena," every time he threw a punch, De La Hoya gave Dorsey a left hook that landed squarely on Dorsey’s right eyebrow, splitting it into open, blood spewing, knocking Dorsey out in the first round of an under card in Las Vegas, Nevada. The punch injured the ligament in De La Hoya’s left hand, however. De la Hoya applied the same blow to his next opponent Renaldo Carter in Bay St. Louis, Missouri in the Roy Jones under card. But he re-injured his left hand while sparring, which he kept it to himself. “Every time, I flicked my left wrist, the pain shot thru me. What was weird was that there was no pain when I used that left hand to throw a punch I called “my 45" because it came at a 45-degree angle, somewhere between a hook and an uppercut. It had something to do with the angle of my arm. All I knew in that position, my left hand could still be effective." De la Hoya used it in beating Narciso Valenzuela in Phoenix, Arizona in his ninth and last match of 1993 with his left hook that knocked Valenzuela out in the first round. “I just reached for my “45" and just like the Carter fight," De La Hoya delivered a “skin-shattering cut, this time over the left eye of my opponent. The fight was stopped in the fourth round but his hand was hurting." With De La Hoya taller than Pacquiao by four inches, De La Hoya will have to expand his angle wider by 10 or 20 degrees, so he is on target. Even if De La Hoya changes his style now that his secret is out into the open, both Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, and his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, are confident that the GenSan wonder is going to send the former Olympic champion to dreamland. Roach predicted that his ward is going to knock out the 10-time world champion in the ninth round. Roach, who trained both boxers, said, “Oscar is a great warrior and trains hard. Manny is a machine, fighting his fourth fight in a year. While Oscar is making his fourth fight in four years. Activity keeps you sharp and well-oiled and not rusty. So, Manny can win this one." Roach is now lining up Manny to train with taller and heavier sparring mates. Arum is likewise predicting that Manny said Manny is going to beat Oscar in the late rounds, while dismissing criticisms that the upcoming mega-bout as a “mismatch." “Although Oscar is taller and bigger, Manny is faster, fresher and younger. Remember speed kills. Even the Bible has documented that David can kill a Goliath," he said. On their arrival in Chicago, De La Hoya and Pacquiao visited the Mercantile Exchange, the stock exchange in Chicago. Then, Pacquiao proceeded to the Philippine Consulate and paid a courtesy call on Consul General Blesila Cabrera, who appealed to Filipinos all over the world to pray for the success of Pacquio during his bout. Later in the day, Pacquiao and De La Hoya faced a press conference at the penthouse of the Sears Tower, the tallest building in the nation, where they thanked their sponsors and the media for supporting their fight. At the press conference, as usual, Pacquiao, a four-division champion, did not make any prediction, except to say, “I’ll do my best and make people happy." When asked for prediction, De la Hoya said tongue-in-cheek, “I will knock out Freddie (Roach)" who motivated him for predicting that Pacquiao can beat him. Pacquiao also shrugged off reports that some members of the Philippine Congress want his fight stopped because Manny is mismatched with De la Hoya, saying congressmen should stick by their lawmaking activity, before being pre-occupied with other matters. “I will prove them wrong on Dec. 6 when I beat Oscar," he added. De La Hoya said his motivation to fight is personal. He said while he respects Pacquiao, he resented it when Pacquiao signed a contract with him and tore up the contract the following day to join Mr. Bob Arum’s outfit. He said he wants to send a message to Pacquiao. They left for Houston in the afternoon for another promotional appearance and afterward, the touring group will proceed to San Francisco and Los Angeles. They came to Chicago from New York. GMANews.TV