By Mark Vester

Since the formal announcement of Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao on December 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, questions poured in as to the agreed upon restrictions regarding De La Hoya being able to make the weight-limit on the day of the weigh-in.

The two fighters agreed to meet at 147-pounds, with Pacquiao moving up twelve-pounds from 135 and De La Hoya moving down by three-pounds, having last fought in May against Steve Forbes at 150. One of the biggest sticking points for Team Pacquiao was to make sure that De La Hoya would make the agreed fight weight.

Initially, Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin Gacal want a weight related penalty that was under $1 million dollars, but realized the number was way too low when considering how much money was at stake and how much money De La Hoya has.

Gacal revealed to well-known Filipino scribe Dennis Principe that De La Hoya agreed to pay a penalty of $3 million dollars for every pound above the welterweight limit. Even if De La Hoya weighs a fraction over a pound, it would count as a full pound and he would have to kick in an additional $3 million to Pacquiao. The amount is far larger than the $500,000 per pound penalty placed on Erik Morales for his rematch with Pacquiao.

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