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By Nick Giongco
LOS ANGELES — Bringing down the granite-chinned Oscar De La Hoya is going to be extremely difficult, acknowledges ace trainer Freddie Roach, who will be the driving force behind Manny Pacquiao’s bold bid to topple the Golden Boy next week in Las Vegas.
"Oscar’s got a good chin and he can definitely take a punch," Roach said on Friday, this time sounding a bit modest when asked about the possibility of a knockout victory by Pacquiao on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand.
But there is still one way of seeing Pacquiao win the scheduled 12-round welterweight war via the short route and Roach is of the belief that it is not far-fetch.
"We will make him quit," Roach said, stressing that Pacquiao’s body assault will "force him to quit."
"Oscar doesn’t like body punches and Manny’s going to throw a lot," said the 48-year-old cornerman.
De La Hoya, whose only loss in five fights out of 44 fights is a knockout to Bernard Hopkins years ago, hasn’t been beaten knocked out cold although it was a shot to his ribcage by Hopkins that sent him down for the count.
"Oscar’s durable but we will bring him down," Roach added.
De La Hoya at 5-10 ½ holds a four-inch advantage over Pacquiao, whose wingspan of 67 inches is even shorter than six inches.
While Roach is very vocal about his sentiments, Pacquiao has continued to remain mum about his chances, opting to blurt out answers that are often heard during beauty contests although the mere fact that he spent almost nine weeks under Roach’s tutelage is a sign that the Filipino lefty is not leaving anything to chance.
"Let’s just wait and see what’s going to happen on Dec. 6," said Pacquiao, who is turning 30 on Dec. 17, a date which he intends to make extra memorable.
In the final seven days before the big night, Pacquiao would still spar twice — Saturday and Monday — and continue to do morning roadwork to maintain his conditioning.
Pacquiao and his team will travel to Sin City at around 4 p.m. Monday after a pep rally by his fans at the Wild Card.
On Tuesday until Thursday, Pacquiao will train although it won’t be as vicious as in the past few days since his body has to rest, according to conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
By Nick Giongco
LOS ANGELES — Bringing down the granite-chinned Oscar De La Hoya is going to be extremely difficult, acknowledges ace trainer Freddie Roach, who will be the driving force behind Manny Pacquiao’s bold bid to topple the Golden Boy next week in Las Vegas.
"Oscar’s got a good chin and he can definitely take a punch," Roach said on Friday, this time sounding a bit modest when asked about the possibility of a knockout victory by Pacquiao on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand.
But there is still one way of seeing Pacquiao win the scheduled 12-round welterweight war via the short route and Roach is of the belief that it is not far-fetch.
"We will make him quit," Roach said, stressing that Pacquiao’s body assault will "force him to quit."
"Oscar doesn’t like body punches and Manny’s going to throw a lot," said the 48-year-old cornerman.
De La Hoya, whose only loss in five fights out of 44 fights is a knockout to Bernard Hopkins years ago, hasn’t been beaten knocked out cold although it was a shot to his ribcage by Hopkins that sent him down for the count.
"Oscar’s durable but we will bring him down," Roach added.
De La Hoya at 5-10 ½ holds a four-inch advantage over Pacquiao, whose wingspan of 67 inches is even shorter than six inches.
While Roach is very vocal about his sentiments, Pacquiao has continued to remain mum about his chances, opting to blurt out answers that are often heard during beauty contests although the mere fact that he spent almost nine weeks under Roach’s tutelage is a sign that the Filipino lefty is not leaving anything to chance.
"Let’s just wait and see what’s going to happen on Dec. 6," said Pacquiao, who is turning 30 on Dec. 17, a date which he intends to make extra memorable.
In the final seven days before the big night, Pacquiao would still spar twice — Saturday and Monday — and continue to do morning roadwork to maintain his conditioning.
Pacquiao and his team will travel to Sin City at around 4 p.m. Monday after a pep rally by his fans at the Wild Card.
On Tuesday until Thursday, Pacquiao will train although it won’t be as vicious as in the past few days since his body has to rest, according to conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
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