There's a lot of great fights to choose from, but we're focusing on the bout against the Golden Boy.
On Thursday, Top Rank Promotion’s Facebook page posted highlights of the fight between boxing greats Manny Pacquiao and Oscar De La Hoya in December 2008.
Of course, the first thing we remember about that mega bout at the Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada is the incredible beating that the Filipino slugger dished out on his much taller, much more established opponent. Another one is the fact that Pacman almost literally pummeled the Golden Boy into retirement.
But watching Pacquiao reconfigure De La Hoya’s face once again brought back other memories from the seminal match that are also worth remembering, especially if you’re a true boxing fan.
Philippine government wanted to stop the fight
At that time, no one had an idea that Pacquiao, a former flyweight champion, was capable of conquering eight divisions. His attempt to fight a larger man at 147 pounds was unheard of. As a result, Filipino congressman Rufus Rodriguez feared for the General Santos fighter’s life, and urged the Games and Amusements Board to intervene. As usual, government officials were clueless Manny was able to prove his doubters wrong.
De La Hoya hired legendary trainers to help him beat Manny
In the buildup, De La Hoya was seen as a massive favorite given his size advantage and wealth of experience in the welterweight category, although he was already a 154-pound fighter by then. Helping his case further were two legendary trainers in Angelo Dundee, who he hired as a consultant, and Nacho Beristain, who served as his full-time coach.
In case you’ve forgotten, Dundee was the cornerman of the GOAT Muhammad Ali, and Beristain was the mentor of Pacquiao’s nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez. Nonetheless, their services turned out to be futile against a prime Pacquiao.
The fight was dubbed as The Dream Match
For such an important boxing event, the promoters thought of something real cheesy to label the bout. The Dream Match sounds unimaginative. Perhaps calling it The War for The Throne was more fitting because whoever won would inarguably end up as the sport’s biggest star. Still cheesy? Okay, sorry, let’s stick with The Dream Match.
The fight made Pacquiao a worldwide superstar
During that period, De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were the biggest draws in the game. It can be argued that Oscar was still the more popular boxer back then. While Pacquiao was already starting to become a household name, he was still far from having that worldwide appeal before he fought the Mexican-American superstar. But hey, thanks to his scintillating performance, Manny was able to take the torch from the then-reigning prizefighting king.
Filipinos were introduced to HBO 24/7 documentaries
De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao wasn’t the first boxing match that had an HBO 24/7 documentary. It was the fourth, actually. The first one was for De La Hoya vs. Mayweather. That being said, Pacman’s 24/7 debut introduced Filipino sports fans to the well-written, beautifully shot four-part film, designed to hype up the main event.
It had a huge influence on local sportscasting as media outlets started producing features in the mold of the HBO special. It’s just a shame that multimedia giant had to part ways with the sport in 2018.
(GM)