De La Hoya Says ''I’m even thinking of going back down to 140 after this fight''

By Paul Upham: As he enters the final three weeks of training for his Dream Match boxing super fight with Manny Pacquiao on December 6, the “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya is feeling comfortable already weighing below the welterweight limit of 147lbs. “I have been weighing 145lbs now for the last three weeks,” De La Hoya said on Monday, speaking from his training camp at Big Bear, California. “The weight is no problem. I feel strong. I do have to admit in the first couple of days that I did make the weight or tried making weight a month ago, I did feel a little light headed and weak, but now that we got used to it and now that weeks have passed by, we feel strong and fast and very comfortable with welterweight. I’m even thinking of going back down to 140 after this fight so, we’ll see.” 35 year-old De La Hoya 39-5 (30) is moving down from junior middleweight for his battle with pound for pound No.1 Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, who is moving up from lightweight. The fact that the smaller Filipino boxer Pacquiao 47-3-2 (35) may actually be weighing more than him right now doesn’t surprise De La Hoya. “It doesn’t shock me one bit,” he said. “My way of training and my way of eating has just been very strict, therefore it has been very easy for me to make this weight.” While some boxers only make their required weight limit on the day of the pre-fight weigh-in, De La Hoya feels it was best that he get under the welterweight limit weeks before his mega fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, televised in the USA on HBO Pay-Per-View. “It has been very important,” he explained. “I haven’t made 147 since I fought Arturo Gatti (March 2001), I just want to make sure that I feel comfortable and I feel strong. That I feel full of energy. I want to make my body adapt to this weight class. Now that I have been on weight for several weeks now, we can eat whatever I want.” De La Hoya says that preparing in the mountains at Big Bear under new trainer Nacho Beristain has revitalized him at this later stage of his long stellar career. “Being up here in Big Bear, it has once again ignited that fire in my belly,” he said, “which hasn’t burned in many years. I’m ready to go.” Paul Upham Content Editor http://www.secondsout.com/USA/news.cfm?ccs=229&cs=39341