Sunday, August 3, 2008
Squaring off with Oscar De La Hoya has become an obsession for Manny Pacquiao that the Filipino southpaw believes he is capable of shocking the world in the event they meet in the ring on Dec. 6.
"I know that winning against De La Hoya is going to be tough but I have full confidence in what I can do and I know I can score an upset," Pacquiao said during a brief break in his vacation with his loved ones in the United States.
While a De la Hoya fight will guarantee him the fattest paycheck of his career, Pacquiao said there’s a personal aspect in this fight that is being proposed for Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"There’s going to be lots of money involved but I also have to settle something personal (with De La Hoya)," said Pacquiao, who did not elaborate, although ringsiders believe that De La Hoya’s disenchantment with the fighter began when Pacquiao turned his back on a contract that he signed with the Golden Boy.
Pacquiao has already met and discussed the merits of a De La Hoya fight with his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, and Arum has scheduled to meet with GBP Chief Executive Officer Richard Schaefer this Wednesday to determine whether a deal can be made between the two rival promotional outfits.
Recently, Pacquiao told a gathering of boxing beat writers, columnists and sports editors that he drools over the prospects of rumbling with a "legend like De La Hoya" and that he believes his trainer Freddie Roach is not out of his mind when he told the press that Pacquiao can get the job done even against a bigger fighter in De La Hoya.
Arum and Schaefer will deal with the revenue sharing not only in the pay-per-view, ticket sales and purse but likewise on the delicate issue of the weight limit and brand of the gloves that will be used.
Initial reports inside Team Pacquiao said the 29-year-old General Santos banger is asking million and De La Hoya has been quoted as saying that a fight involving himself would enable Pacquiao to earn up to five times the amount that he’s been getting.
