Thursday, December 4, 2008

Shooter vs. bomber


No, the title doesn’t speak about terrorism nor war.
It was meant to describe a different battle and the site is the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Every Filipino boxing aficionado is waiting with bated breathe for the “Dream Match” between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.
When the Dream Match was first announced, the two combatants were separated by no less than 20 pounds.
It’s a bit odd, but the smaller Pacquiao, who signed up for the big fight and still a certified lightweight, has suddenly broken the 147-lb limit for his rich welterweight battle with De La Hoya.
Actually, there were taunts that Oscar would need a miracle in order to normally scale down to 147 from at least 160 lb.
How the Golden Boy trimmed splendidly, with no reported artificial agents, has stunned experts.
Anyway, gone is the dreaded size disparity, which had at first threatened to turn the Dream Match into an oddity.
At least, there’s the happy promise of the Pacquiao-De La Hoya now being decided through pure athletic prowess, not on bigness or the lack of it.
Of course, there are bigger questions waiting for urgent answers.
Will it be ruthless power over craft and composure, or will it be the other way around?
Will it be the sharpshooter, who prepared and trimmed down naturally, or the dangerous bomber whose new size and might were carved through strange means?
Some observer says, size won’t matter in this fight, but skill does.
A De La hoya fanatic will tell you that “ Oscar’s edge in talent and skill will beat Manny Pacquiao.”
But this promises to be very tough.
So what will be the ultimate factor?
What will determine the fight I think is who among the two will be the better fighter overall, not necessarily who’s bigger or faster.

Stand by for some unmasking at the end of the Dream Match on Saturday night.

4 comments:

Sir,William said...

It will come down to one thing!!!!The man who gets the job done well early on wins this fight.

Sid Brechin said...

There is an old saying. "It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog".

Angry American said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Odette Bautista Mikolai said...

@ healer68
FYI, Oscar was beaten thrice in the same venue,GMG Grand. Once by Mayweather, which was his recent fight, and twice by Mosley. Our Manny had lost a fight there once during 2005, but he had unimpeded win-win bouts after that. Having lured Dela Hoya into this luckless venue is already a sucess, hahaha.
But more than the ill-fated venue, our Manyy has speed.
De La Hoya is rusty, having fought as often as Haley’s Comet. He has had stamina problems in the past so Manny must keep on the pressure to wear him down.
Manny can throw looping right hooks. Oscar has always been vulnerable to wide hooks.
Also, Pacquiao can be ruthless and unforgiving, a thunder and tornado, once he smells blood and goes for the kill.
An American and a Filipino. A David and Goliath.
This will be an interesting fight....

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