By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach added a new and intriguing twist to the saga of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao saying Golden Boy Promotions may want Pacquiao to fight Oscar De La Hoya instead of Ricky Hatton who is handled by Golden Boy.
In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Roach said :”to be honest with you I think Manny can beat Oscar.” He said Pacquiao’s speed would be too much for “an old man” referring to De La Hoya.
For the fight to happen Roach, who trained De La Hoya for his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr said “he (De La Hoya) must at least come down to 147 pounds.”
With Mayweather’s announced retirement the planned September rematch that De La Hoya was looking at is out and his other possible opponent Ricky Hatton has made it clear he wouldn’t be ready to fight in September.
This makes a Pacquiao-De La Hoya fight a possibility although the question as to the Golden Boy’s willingness to come down in weight may eventually determine whether the fight would happen.
However, there’s opposition within the Pacquiao camp to a De La Hoya fight. Michael Koncz who serves as some sort of adviser with close ties to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he would “do my best to convince Manny not to take the De La Hoya fight.”
Koncz said that while it is true De La Hoya has slowed down and “Manny may be quicker on his feet, Oscar still has power because a boxer never loses power. And if De La Hoya catches Manny, there might be some serious kind of injury there.”
