Oscar Dela Hoya and Manny Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym during the pound-for-pound king's training for the third fight versus Juan Manuel Marquez.
The former boxing poster boy and reigning pay-per-view king said he felt Marquez had the edge in the hotly debated contest, adding that the Mexican counterpuncher has the Filipino ring icon completely figured out.
“I personally had it 7-5 for Marquez,” De La Hoya told Filipino journalists during Amir Khan’s media workout at the Wild Card gym Tuesday. “[It was] maybe a draw. Maybe a couple of rounds [were] close, were even.”
What’s for certain is the fight was a classic, De La Hoya added.
“I guess everybody knows Pacquiao and Marquez, their styles are made for each other,” said the Golden Boy, who retired after being severely crushed by Pacquiao during their 2008 showdown in Las Vegas. “It’s no secret that Marquez has Pacquiao’s numbers.
“He knows what to do when Pacquiao makes mistakes,” he added. “Marquez is a fighter who waits for you and he’ll wait for you all night.”
Pacquiao, on the other hand, is someone who puts the fans’ enjoyment on top of everything and gives statements such as “I just want to give the fans an entertaining fight.”
And that, De La Hoya said, may be the reason why he walks into stinging counters from Marquez.
“A fighter like Manny, he wants to fight. He wants to please people. He wants to please himself,” said De La Hoya, who is now busy running his Golden Boy Promotions. “So he’s going to go in and make mistakes. And that’s what Marquez capitalized [on].”
De La Hoya also said that Pacquiao’s recent demolition of bigger foes has pumped up people’s expectations and could be the reason why some fans chalked up the bout against Marquez as a loss.
“I think the people were in shock, obviously because people were so used to seeing Manny dominate everybody in recent times,” he explained. “And the fact that he has a close fight, people are saying ‘Oh my gosh.’ So it’s understandable.
“There are people who are gonna cry foul, and there are people who are gonna say ‘No, Manny won.’ That’s the beauty of having the style like Marquez and the style like Pacquiao—they always [give] a good fight.”
Top Rank chief Bob Arum is hoping to have those styles clash again and is working to schedule a fourth fight.
But De La Hoya doesn’t think a fourth installment of the compelling rivalry should be scheduled.
“What for?” he said. “We’re gonna see the same fight. There’s nothing better than what Marquez did and there’s nothing better that Pacquiao can do [if they fight again].”
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