De La Hoya: ‘Pacquiao can do some damage to Mayweather’

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao’s former foe Oscar De La Hoya thinks the Filipino boxer can “do some damage” on Floyd Mayweather Jr. when the two pound-for-pound greats lock horns in a much-anticipated megafight on May 2 at the MGM Garden Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

The retired De La Hoya, who lost to Pacquiao via technical knockout in 2008, believes the 8-division champion will be the toughest test to date for an undefeated Mayweather, considering the underdog Pacquiao is a southpaw.

“We have to take into consideration that Pacquiao is a southpaw,” the 42-year old said in an interview with fighthype.com. “If he has the legs for 12 rounds to move inside, outside, side to side, and throw a lot of punches, I really do feel that Pacquiao can do some damage to Mayweather.”

Mayweather (47-0, 26 knockouts) is known to struggle against lefties throughout his career. The last southpaw he fought was Robert Guerrero in 2013, whom he defeated via unanimous decision.

To prepare for Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound champion enlisted the help of former opponent DeMarcus Corley as one of his sparring partners.

De La Hoya, however, has faith in Mayweather’s defensive prowess.

“Then again Mayweather is a masterful boxer, he’s a master at defense,” he said. “It’s just gonna be a very entertaining fight. It’s much-anticipated, everyone’s gonna be excited so I’m looking forward to it.”

De La Hoya is among the majority who have long waited for Pacquiao and Mayweather to go at it inside a ring – a fight that would determine which of the two is the true best boxer of their generation.

“A lot of people can argue that it’s maybe a few years too late but I think I really do feel that Mayweather and Pacquiao still have a lot left in the tank to make it a really, really good fight. As a boxing fan I’m really looking forward to it.” – Rappler.com