By Ryan Songalia
There was a time when Oscar de la Hoya was the emerging superpower in the sport looking to enhance his reputation against fading legends. The swagger he exhibited in twice dominating an over-the-hill, but still viable box office force marked his arrival as the sport's main attraction. There was more symbolism than competition occurring on those two nights more than a decade ago.
De la Hoya's two fights with Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez, which produced fourth and eighth round TKO wins respectively, were not summit clashes but ritualistic passings of the torch. The aging Chavez was bloodied and embarrassed in their initial contest, and in a rematch fared no better, taking a physical pounding before retiring on his stool.
Saturday night in Las Vegas, it was "The Golden Boy's" turn to remain in his corner after 8 rounds, the anti-climax to a one-sided drubbing at the hands of WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao. As has been the pattern with de la Hoya's fights over the last five years, the "event" far surpassed the action in the ring. Pacquiao came to fight, while de la Hoya failed to hold up his end of the bargain.
Initially, the idea of matching Pacquiao, who had never previously weighed more than 134 pounds for a fight, with the Mexican-American icon at welterweight inspired outrage from the media. "How could this fight even be sanctioned?" were the cries from the press. After all, the division of weights is meant to preserve the integrity and fairness of boxing.
Money talks, however, and the money being offered to Pacquiao to skip a division and move up to face a man who had once earned, or better yet was dubiously handed, a middleweight alphabelt was too significant to reject.
Yet, as the fight neared, there was a noticeable turn in the media coverage that had been circulating. Perhaps it is a testament to how well Golden Boy Promotions in association with Top Rank had promoted the fight. Media kits were not short on language highlighting the accolades of Pacquiao, nor were they shy on the accomplishments of de la Hoya. Mainstream media outlets, long fond of de la Hoya, gobbled it up and shortly after the boxing contingent followed suit.
Or perhaps it was the realization that Pacquiao had rolled the dice numerous times and his hot streak over the last three and a half years was one you could set your watch to. Contrast that with the fact that de la Hoya had gone 3-3 in his six previous fights and dedicates more energy to his promotional company than to his boxing career.
Pacquiao underlined that, at 35 years old, de la Hoya remained merely a name, no longer the great fighter he had been a decade ago.
For de la Hoya, now 39-6 (30 KO), the end of his reign as the sport's preeminent box office attraction seems to be at hand. Though it has been a common occurrence for him to fall short in his most significant fights, de la Hoya had never absorbed the kind of sustained beating that had summoned the call for retirement. Until now.
Losses to Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad had rubbed off some of his luster to the boxing faithful. Still, mainstream fans had taken solace in his saving graces, the close decisions and other silver-linings that have punctuated most of his fights.
There was to be no silver-lining against the smaller Pacquiao, just the humbled and bruised ego of a man whose pugilistic flame is no more than a flickering match.
Interestingly, this is not the first time a lightweight has risen in weight to beat de la Hoya. With only one fight in between, Shane Mosley leaped from lightweight to welterweight to win a 12-round decision over de la Hoya in 2000.
The 29-year-old Pacquiao, 48-3-2 (36 KO), now stands unchallenged and unrivaled as the sport's pound for pound best. His ring achievements, which boast two stoppage wins over Erik Morales, a TKO and a decision over Marco Antonio Barrera, a decision and a draw with Juan Manuel Marquez and title belts almost everywhere from flyweight to lightweight assure him first ballot induction into the Hall of Fame. With this win, Pacquiao further distances himself from the sport's number two best fighter, unbeaten Joe Calzaghe of Wales.
In addition, Pacquiao has also created further space between himself and the sport's previous pound for pound best, Floyd Mayweather Jr. While it can be argued that de la Hoya dropping down to his lowest weight in 12 years was a terrible idea in hindsight, the manner by which Pacquiao pounded his foe into submission endeared himself to the fans far more than Mayweather's split-decision win last year.
In a sport governed by the rules of show business, the show is everything.
Mayweather, who retired undefeated at the age of 31 following a tenth round TKO win over Ricky Hatton last December, has had his name thrown about by fight fans seeking a competitive challenge to Pacquiao. Time will tell if anything ever materializes of those beckons.
Hatton seems to be the next hurdle for Pacquiao to overcome. The 45-1 (32 KO) British star who leads a legion of chanting adorers everywhere he goes is coming off two consecutive wins since his lone defeat at the hands of Mayweather. He has ruled the 140 pound division for more than three years since forcing Kostya Tszyu into retirement. While the fight figures to be a huge financial blockbuster, many wonder aloud if Hatton can contend with the PacMan's arsenal of southpaw punches.
One ghost from Pacquiao's past that continues to linger is Juan Manuel Marquez, the current Ring Magazine champion of the lightweight division. In their two meetings, Pacquiao has been held to a draw and a split-decision win. Their meeting earlier this year sold more than 400,000 pay-per-views, breaking a record for most buys for a fight below the welterweight division and producing $20.2 million in sales.
If Pacquiao and Marquez fought 100 times, we would be treated to 100 close, disputable decisions. Some even contest that Marquez deserved the decisions in both fights.
When Pacquiao reversed his 2005 decision loss to Erik Morales with an emphatic tenth round TKO the following January, HBO commentator Jim Lampley trumpeted the Filipino star's rise to the next level of public consciousness. How much bigger has he become with his last performance?
"If he ran for President, he'd have my vote," jested the second best current fighter of Filipino descent Nonito Donaire, who holds the IBF flyweight title. "He is our very own man. Nobody has ever destroyed de la Hoya like this. He said he'd break Pacquiao's heart but it was his who was broken instead."
Donaire believes that despite his foreign roots, Pacquiao can be a crossover box office hit on par with de la Hoya and Mike Tyson.
"I believe that because of the way he fights. He brings people in and no matter what, he wants people to be happy when they go home. There's no one out there that's more exciting than him."
Going beyond sports, Donaire feels that the stature of Pacquiao as an international ambassador is unparalleled by any Filipino, live or dead.
"There's no Filipino in history who has achieved greatness like he has. In terms of how he brought Filipinos to the masses and let the world know that we're awesome, we're talented, we're great. He's the man that has opened the door for everyone."
In terms of crossover appeal, Pacquiao's aggressive style is no disservice to his likability. His proficiency in English, or his inconsistency at that, might hinder him a bit with Americans. Though he has improved sharply from his earliest American appearances, his post-fight interview was choppy at best. Mastery of the English language is a prerequisite to becoming a pitchman for American goods.
In the Philippines, that is no obstacle whatsoever. Pacquiao has endorsed everything from socks to batteries to beer to pain relievers. Currently he is the Filipino spokesman for Nike, which has been represented by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Roy Jones Jr. and Michael Jordan.
Maybe he should have been endorsed by Adidas. After all, Pacquiao's latest performance embodies their slogan, "Impossible is Nothing."
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Note to Jim Lampley:
"General Cebu City" is not a real location in the Philippines. General Santos City, which is known as the Tuna Capital of the World, is a real city, and is the hometown of Manny Pacquiao. Cebu City is also a real place and has risen to fame in the sport as the site of the ALA Boxing Gym.
Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at songaliaboxing@aol.com
