By Mark Vester

People called the fight a disgrace. People called the fight a farce. People called the fight a circus. People called the fight a mismatch. It was a mismatch, but the not the kind of mismatch that any person in the sport expected. Tonight, we didn't see a superstar. We saw a megastar born in the sport. At the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36KOs) stopped Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30KOs) after eight rounds of brutal punishment.

At the start, Pacquiao used his quick left hands to hit De La Hoya down the middle while stepping to the side and moving his head often to avoid De La Hoya's jab and counters. Oscar couldn't get off well with his hands, but when he did hit Pacquiao - he pushed the Filipino back. A big combo by Pacquiao in the second got a rise out of the crowd. De La Hoya continued to be open for the straight left as Pacquiao connected often. De La Hoya began to show swelling on his face at the start of the second. Pacquaio's quick feet kept De La Hoya from being able to land much of anything. Pacquiao continued to land power shot after power shot with few problems. Oscar couldn't get off at all in the third round. He either stayed in one spot without punching or missed his counters. Pacquiao continued to swell up Oscar's face with more power punching.

Pacquiao quicker hands continued to lands on De La Hoya's face in the fourth. The slower De La Hoya had no answers during their exchanges. During the final minute of the fourth, Pacquiao was ripping De La Hoya with power shots from corner to corner. A combo that ended with a right hand pushed De La Hoya's head all the way back in the fifth. Pacquiao went down to the body and back to the head with speed and power that De La Hoya had no answer for. At one point De La Hoya slowed Pacquiao with a body shot and got off with three left hooks, but they did little to no damage. Pacquiao returned fire with his own combinations.

The action slowed down at the start of the sixth, but Pacquiao picked up the pace and began to fire around the midway point. De La Hoya tried to stay back and turn into a counter puncher, but couldn't land his counters. A combo by Pacquiao buckled De La Hoya's knees in the final ten seconds. The seventh round was a wipeout. Pacquiao's body shots were hurting De La Hoya during the seventh. He pushed De La Hoya into the corner and punished him so badly that it appeared referee Tony Weeks almost stopped the fight. The ring doctor told De La Hoya between the seventh and eight that he would stop the fight if De La Hoya continued to take such a beating. In the eight, Pacquiao continued to punish and punish De La Hoya with power punches. After the round came to a close, De La Hoya's corner begged for the fight to be stopped and Oscar agreed.

 

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