By Mark Vester
I know the parties involved are trying VERY hard to sell the upcoming Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view as a "fight of the century" encounter, but the pre-fight shilling is starting to get to point of being absurd. In his blog for Ring Magazine, Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach claims that Ivan Calderon slapped around Oscar De La Hoya when the two of them sparred last year.
Roach brought in Calderon, then the WBO champion at 105-pounds, to prepare De La Hoya for last May's bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Roach claims that Calderon boxed De La Hoya's ears off and based on those sparring sessions - he knows that Pacquiao will be able to beat De La Hoya on December 6 in Las Vegas.
"After I trained Oscar, I realized he had trouble with smaller guys and southpaws. Oscar sparred with Ivan Calderon, the former 105-pound champion, when I trained him for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight because I wanted someone real quick. Calderon slapped Oscar around like it was unbelievable. I said between rounds one time, 'Oscar, I want you to hit him one shot to show him who’s boss.' He couldn’t do it," Roach said.
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