By Luke Furman
Can Manny Pacquiao recover from the vicious sixth round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez? Reflecting on similar knockout defeats in the history of the sport, former fighter and Golden Boy Promotions President, Oscar De La Hoya, says the road to fully recover from such a knockout will be very tough. He gives Pacquiao a chance to make it back, but the says the mental damage will affect him more than anything else.
"That's going to be the million dollar question because psychologically he is always going to be feeling that punch. He's always going to be looking out for that punch. He will be doubting himself [and telling himself] 'can I do this again.' - even in training, even in training [he will be doubting himself]. History shows this, and I'm not making this up...history shows that it's impossible to [fully] come back [from that kind of a knockout]. Can he come back? It's up to him. You look at Paul Williams [at how he got knocked out]. Back in the day Thomas Hearns knocked out Roberto Duran and he landed face first. You look at Ricky Hatton at how he got knocked out. You look at history in boxing," De La Hoya told Power 106.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org