Oscar De La Hoya believes Manny Pacquiao will struggle should he ever fight unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr. In an interview, De La Hoya said he believes “Mayweather will expose Pacquiao.”
“Mayweather… has a style where he doesn’t really like to fight. That’s why it would get so complicated for Pacquiao,” he added. “Pacquiao would just come forward and leave himself vulnerable to counter-rights that Mayweather would be throwing.”
De La Hoya fought both Pacquiao and Mayweather and lost to both men. In May 2007, De La Hoya lost his WBC light middleweight title to Mayweather after losing via split decision. In December 2008, he was forced to quit on his stool after sustaining a beating at Pacquiao’s hands for eight rounds.
De La Hoya retired from boxing after his loss to Pacquiao, but believes that Mayweather will be successful against Pacquiao.
“Mayweather would be timing him. Styles make fights, and the more Pacquiao pushes the fight, and the more he pressures Mayweather, the easier it will be for Mayweather,” he said.
Mayweather recently extended his unbeaten streak to 43 fights after defeating Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto via unanimous decision last Saturday in Las Vegas. In that fight, Mayweather found himself in a tough battle as Cotto consistently pushed and pressured him, forcing him against the ropes and even managing to bloody his nose.
But Mayweather was still able to adjust, using his strong defense and speed advantage especially in the late rounds, while Cotto faded down the stretch.
Mayweather is fond of saying that “43 have tried and 43 have failed” to defeat him, but De La Hoya claims that there is a way to beat the boxer who calls himself “Money.”
De La Hoya said an effective game plan against Mayweather would involve “controlled aggression in the pocket.”
“You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to beat Mayweather,” he said. “You just have to have great conditioning, which I didn’t have (when I fought him).”
“You have to be in the pocket and you have to use that jab… You have to have a good jab… You have to not walk him down, but be on your toes and you have to feint him. You have to offset his punches,” De La Hoya added.
He also revealed that Mayweather’s own father, Floyd Sr., told him the key to beating the boxer: “Floyd Mayweather Sr. once told me that the way to beat his son is to time his punches.”
“You know he’s going to throw that right hand… You can’t let Mayweather shoot those right hands over your jab,” De La Hoya said.
“If I was two years younger and in great shape, it would have been an easy fight,” he said.
