Weight gain will add power to Pacquiao’s punch

By Roy Luarca

Manny Pacquiao’s power is proportionate to his weight. As he gains poundage, so does the wallop of his punches.

Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza reportedly made the discovery during his stint at Pacquiao’s training camp in June, when the Filipino ring icon challenged and eventually beat David Diaz for the World Boxing Council lightweight crown.

Ariza, who also monitored Pacquiao’s nutrition, power and speed from Day One of training up to fight night in Las Vegas, affirmed that Pacquiao is endowed with superior strength.

And, unlike before when Pacquiao’s killer punches emanated mostly from the left, both hands now wield lethal power capable of knocking out even a heavyweight boxer.
In a Pacland Forum post Tuesday, Ariza supposedly measured Pacquiao’s power at the start of camp when the four-division champion weighed between 147 and 150 pounds.
The finding startled Ariza, who’d worked with other boxers, and turned him into an instant believer of Pacquiao’s widely recognized brutal power.

But as the training progressed, Ariza also made another startling finding: Pacquiao’s strength declines as he loses weight.

Fact is, in the same post, Ariza supposedly noticed that from being a heavy banger Pacquiao turned into a light hitter after the weigh-in, when he tipped the scales at 134.5 pounds. Expectedly, the decline in power of his developed right was even more pronounced.

Ariza, of course, can’t explain what happened in-between, when Pacquiao slowly stuffed himself with nutritious food, vitamins and drinks before he fought and knocked out Diaz in the ninth round.

Ariza merely concluded that Pacquiao is more dangerous if he doesn’t lose weight during training.

And since Pacquiao is slated to fight Oscar De La Hoya at 147 pounds on Dec. 6, he no longer needs to go on diet because he normally weighs 144-147 pounds.
Ariza may be at a loss to describe the phenomenon of losing and regaining power, but the explanation may have come from Pacquiao himself.

In an interview made before his WBC junior lightweight title fight against Juan Manuel Marquez early this year, Pacquiao likened himself to a sponge.
He can shrink fast, but also bulk up fast.

Against De La Hoya, Pacquiao needs to be just his natural speedy, deadly self.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao arrived in Los Angeles Sunday night to begin his long and arduous preparation for his megabuck bout against De La Hoya.
As always, Pacquiao will train at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach in Hollywood.

Pacquiao will also take time off to help promote the 12-round fight, a sure sell-out at the MGM Grand Grand Arena in Las Vegas and a certain pay-per-view blockbuster.

Mayweather: Pacquiao can’t win, no way..

Ain’t no way (Manny) Pacquiao can beat Oscar (De La Hoya). No way.”

Floyd Mayweather Sr. made this statement Tuesday to explain why he is not training De La Hoya for his Dec. 6 fight with Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, according to an article by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.

Mayweather Sr., wrote Iole, confirmed the split with De La Hoya after reaching him by telephone in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he is preparing Joan Guzman to face Nate Campbell in a WBA-WBO lightweight title bout on Saturday.

“Oscar doesn’t need me to beat Pacquiao,” said Mayweather, as quoted by Iole. “He really doesn’t. For this fight, Oscar can beat Pacquiao with just about anyone training him. When he hits him with that first left hook, it’s all going to be over.

“So, I’ll be honest, Oscar doesn’t need to pay the price to get me in this fight, because he’ll win this with me or without me.”

According to Iole, De La Hoya—who was in Las Vegas promoting Saturday’s lightweight bout between Joel Casamayor and Juan Manuel Marquez—had confirmed reports that Mayweather was hired to train Ricky Hatton for his Nov. 22 fight against Paulie Malignaggi.

While De La Hoya did not say who would be in his corner against Pacquiao, Iole wrote that it was a good guess that Oscar would tap Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, who has long been regarded as the best trainer in Mexico and whom De La Hoya holds in high regard.

Beristain is the same trainer of Marquez, who carved out a draw with Pacquiao in 2004 before losing by split decision to the Filipino ring icon in their WBC super featherweight title fight last year.

Iole said that Mayweather had intimated that the split was over money, but did not criticize De La Hoya.

“I respect Oscar and I did well with him,” Iole quoted Mayweather as saying, “but he did really, really super well by having me around. Oscar got rich, rich, rich by working with me and I made what I made.”

Besides, Iole said, Mayweather Sr. doesn’t believe De La Hoya will have trouble defeating Pacquiao, who won the WBC lightweight title on June 28 in Las Vegas when he stopped champion David Diaz.

Freddie Roach, who trained De La Hoya in his split-decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May last year, will again work for Pacquiao.

“Floyd Sr. has obligations with Ricky Hatton,” Iole quoted De La Hoya as saying. “Am I disappointed? Absolutely, I’m very disappointed. I respect Floyd Sr. very much. I respect him as a person and as a trainer. Obviously, the door is always wide open for Floyd Sr., because I truly feel that Floyd Sr. can take me, after every single fight, to a whole new level.”

Iole said that the uncertainty over when De La Hoya would fight again was the reason Mayweather decided to sign up with Hatton, noting that the trainer needed work. (Steve Silva, contributor)

De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight a big hit

Philippines—Although he is salivating to be in Oscar De la Hoya’s shoes, Mexican icon Juan Manuel Marquez says the Dec. 6 battle between his tormentor Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Oscar De la Hoya is going to be “a great, great fight.”


Marquez was reacting to a question posed by the media as he prepares to challenge Ring Magazine lightweight king Joel Casamayor on Sunday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.


“Well, I mean that’s (De La Hoya-Pacquiao) a fight that everybody wants to see, everybody is talking about it now,” said Marquez, who still insists that he beat Pacquiao in their two outings in 2004 and 2008.

“Obviously, I support the Mexican, I support Oscar,” added Marquez in the report on EastSideBoxing.com on Monday. “Oscar is my promoter and obviously I’m behind him. But, I think it will be a great, great fight.”

The 35-year-old Marquez, who went to the extent of flying to Manila in April to challenge Pacquiao for a third encounter, said he will prove to everybody that he can beat the world’s best lightweight in Casamayor.

Marquez was obviously taking a dig at Pacquiao, who beat former World Boxing Council lightweight champ David Diaz who was considered by many to be the weakest among the lightweight champs before the title fight.

“I chose to fight Joel Casamayor who, I’m telling you, has won the title as the best 135 pounder,” said Marquez. “Yes, fighting him and getting a victory against him—I just wanted to prove that I’m fighting the best like you mentioned,” said Marquez.

“Manny Pacquiao fought David Diaz, who was a champion yes, but not a top fighter in the 135 lb division.

“But I’m going to prove it. I’m going to prove it to myself, I’m going to prove to the people that I’m the best 135-pounder out there.”

Casamayor, for his part, has indicated that although he is not looking past Marquez, the bigger fight that awaits him will still be Pacquiao.

“I’ll tell you one thing, I’d like the chance (to fight) Pacquiao,” said Casamayor, a boxing gold medalist for Cuba in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“I really like the 140 lb division. If it’s not over here, I’ll fight him over in England. It’s not a big deal. First off, while I’m against Juan Manuel Marquez, there is no other fight if we can’t get past him.”

Asked about the Pacquiao-Marquez fight, Casamayor took another dig at the Filipino ring hero.

“I’m a savvy guy in the ring,” he said. “I’m not a guy that goes out there like a robot, someone’s robot—nothing like that. I’m a guy that gets loose in the ring.

“When I get in there, I invent. I’m the guy that dictates the pace.” (Salven Lagumbay; INQ.net)

Size is factor but Manny picked for edge vs Oscar dela Hoya

By ROY MEDINA
abs-cbnNEWS.com

The Philippines' Manny Pacquiao may end up as the fighter with the edge against Oscar de la Hoya when they collide in boxing's biggest date yet -- December 6 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, an online analyst said Monday.

Paul Strauss, in his column in Eastsideboxing.com, counted three big points for the World Boxing Council lightweight champion. These include Pacquiao being the best pound-for-pound figther at present, his improvement as a complete fighter with his right jabs and left hooks and of course, the speed.

"If Manny wins, it will be one of the biggest wins in boxing history, involving someone who started out as a flyweight, successfully moving up all the way to welterweight," Strauss said.

However, not all is lost for the "Golden Boy" of boxing since he enjoys advantage in height against Pacquiao.

De la Hoya stands 5' 10 1/2" as against the Filipino boxing icon's 5' 6 1/2". The Golden Boy also has a longer reach at 73" while Pacquiao only has 67".

"Fighters tend to run into reality problems when moving up in weight. In other words, the old saying about a good big man will always beat a good little man (physics) comes into play," Strauss said in his analysis.

He added that the smaller fighter often finds out that his punches "aren't as effective, and regrettably for him the reverse is also true."

"The little man's skeletal and muscular structure cannot withstand the larger man's punches as well as he did in the past when he weathered the hard punches of men his own size," he added.

But then again, Strauss said, de la Hoya's faded away in some of his fights.

"Oscar is not perfect. He has faded in fights.....i.e. against Tito, against Shane and against Pretty Boy. It seems as though his biggest weakness might be his mindset. When asked why he quit throwing his jab against Floyd, he couldn't supply a reason!"

Best P4P

Pacquiao has also improved through the years of demolishing Mexican fighters and his climb in weight divisions, said Strauss.

"Most observers would have to say that Manny has much improved over the years, and continues to do so. Not surprisingly, he is more of a complete fighter now. He isn't just a fast, relentless big left-handed puncher. Now, his foot work is better, and he has an excellent jab and right hook," he said.

In addition, the WBC lightweight champ also has his accuracy as another great asset.

"When rushed, he can throw short, powerful punches that have all of his body behind them, landing with tremendous effect right on the button. Just ask (Juan Manuel) Marquez or (David) Diaz."

Strauss mentioned de la Hoya's good jab. But this, he immediately explained, has not been used often and could be taken advantage of by the quicker Pacquiao.

"Oscar's got a very good jab as well, but as previously mentioned, he doesn't always use it, so that will obviously be a key to this fight. Since he is a natural left hander, it follows he has a very good left hook, a punch Manny could easily run into when attempting one of those rushes I mentioned. Speed will be the difference when it comes to this strategy. Edge Manny," said Strauss.

In the end, the analyst laid down several possibilities.

"What if the expected occurs, and the Golden Boy is victorious? What has he really accomplished, other than to beat a much smaller man and earn a big payday? Will it add to his legacy as a great fighter? Maybe, but it will depend on how he wins," he said.

As for Pacquiao, he had this to say: "On the other hand, if Manny loses, does it really diminish his status as a great P4P fighter? The answer is probably not. If he wins, boxing will be talking about him for a long, long time! Winner Manny."