Manny Pacquiao TKOs Oscar De La Hoya

Posted Dec 6th 2008 11:45PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Golden Boy Promotions, HBO

In the biggest boxing match of the year, Manny Pacquiao defeated Oscar De La Hoya in a dominant, star-making performance tonight in Las Vegas. Pacquiao bashed De La Hoya through eight brutal rounds of boxing, and De La Hoya couldn't answer the bell for the ninth.

Pacquiao, generally recognized as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, came into the fight as an underdog to De La Hoya, mostly because the fight was contested at 147 pounds, a weight De La Hoya has fought at many times but Pacquiao had never previously approached. But this fight wasn't about size, it was about speed, and Pacquiao was by far the faster fighter.

Pacquiao was way ahead on all three judges' scorecards, with two judges having it 80-71 and one judge scoring it 79-72. Pacquiao improves to 48-3-2, with 36 knockouts. De La Hoya falls to 39-6.

Both fighters were, as always, classy afterward. Pacquiao approached De La Hoya in the ring and said, "You're still my idol." De La Hoya replied, "Now you're my idol."

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