Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008

LAS VEGAS (AP) Oscar De La Hoya might have beaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. had he stayed with his jab and found a way to land a left hook or two.

Ready to rumble: Oscar De La Hoya flexes his muscles Friday after weighing in for his welterweight non-title bout with Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on Saturday. AP PHOTO

He would have beaten Felix Trinidad if he hadn't decided to run instead of fight in the last few rounds, and he might have gotten the best of Shane Mosley if he hadn't faded late in their two fights.

One common theme emerged after all of those losses — it always seemed to be someone else's fault.

"It's his nature," trainer Freddie Roach said. "He's never been a man who blames himself. He'll always blame someone else."

There will be plenty of blame to spread around Saturday night if De La Hoya can't beat an undersized Manny Pacquiao in a 147-pound (67-kg) fight even the oddsmakers expect him to win.

Unlike De La Hoya's fight last year against Mayweather, though, Roach won't be a target of it because he'll be in the opposite corner doing everything possible to carry Pacquiao to victory.

He'll settle for a decision win. But what Roach would really like is a knockout that could bring an end to De La Hoya's long career.

"I go through scenarios before I go to bed every night," Roach said. "I can't sleep until I come up with the right ending. And it always ends with Manny knocking him out."

Part of Roach's confidence comes from the knowledge that Pacquiao is supremely talented, so good that many in boxing have given him the mythical title of the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game.

The other part comes from training De La Hoya for several months to fight Mayweather, and seeing what happened just before his fighter went into the ring.

"He's so tight," Roach said. "I've never seen a fighter so experienced be so tight before a fight."

De La Hoya vigorously disputes that, of course, and points to a number of wins in big fights against Julio Cesar Chavez, Fernando Vargas and Pernell Whitaker, among others.

But he hasn't won a significant fight since knocking out Vargas six years ago. At 35, De La Hoya needs a spectacular performance against Pacquiao if he expects to keep fighting for the huge purses he has been so accustomed to getting every time he steps into the ring.

De La Hoya the fighter knows that. Just as important, so does De La Hoya the promoter.

"I will be extremely, extremely disappointed if this fight doesn't end in a knockout," De La Hoya said. "It will be a total disaster for me."

Pacquiao weighed 142 pounds (64 kg) at Friday's weigh-in, well below the welterweight limit, while De La Hoya was 145 (66 kg).

The scheduled 12-round fight from the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino will be lucrative for both fighters, thanks to a $54.95 pay-per-view price tag that will generate millions of dollars even in a bad economy.

Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 knockouts) is guaranteed $11 million, while De La Hoya (39-5, 30 knockouts) could easily double that with his percentage of the profits.

After trying to chase a slippery Mayweather for 12 rounds, De La Hoya may have found a perfect opponent for this time of his career.

"If you have a fighter who is going to come at me, a fighter who is going to throw strong punches with full force and is going to stay in front of me and has the heart to fight as hard as he can, then I welcome it," De La Hoya said. "I open up the door and I let them right into my home. Hey, let's fight."

Pacquiao knows no other way to fight, ever since his debut 13 years ago as a 106-pounder (48-kg) in his native Philippines. He's won his first title at 112 pounds (51 kg) and his last at 135 pounds (61 kg) when he stopped David Diaz in the ninth round in June in his first fight at lightweight.

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