Pacquiao on verge of history, ready to reign over Dela Hoya

MANILA, Philippines - The last of the formalities has been formalized. A final weigh-in, as usual, officially ended the training period and began a 24-hour wait for the main event. This final weigh-in, as expected, was trouble-free. Manny Pacquiao tipped the scales at 142 pounds on Saturday (Friday, US time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Oscar de la Hoya came in at 145 pounds. Both were well within the welterweight (147-pound) limit set for their match. Now that that has been set aside, everybody knows what time it is. Game time. "There's nothing more we can do. Now Manny knows he’s going there to do his job," Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, said. "If you have a fighter who is going to come at me and has the heart to fight as hard as he can, then I welcome it," de la Hoya said. "I open up the door and I let them right into my home. Hey, let's fight." Pacquiao (47-3-2, win-loss-draw) clashing with de la Hoya (39-5-1, win-loss-draw) was unthinkable only earlier this year. But then Pacquiao got bigger, looked far more improved in terms of his skills, and began to string up one world title after another. At the same time, de la Hoya, who was ready to hang up his gloves, was looking for a bankable high-profile opponent who would give his stellar resume a pretty, final entry. Pacquiao-de la Hoya, why not? After the paycheck kinks were ironed out (to satisfy Pacquiao) and the playing weight was established (to entice de la Hoya), the date was penciled and the venue was booked. With all that being set aside, everybody knows what time it is. Time for the biggest boxing event of the year. "It's going to be boxing history if I win this fight," said Pacquiao. "I believe my power and my speed can beat him." "This type of fight calls for a knockout," said De La Hoya. "I may box, but if Manny Pacquiao hits me with a good shot, let's fight. Bite into my mouthpiece and let's get down to it." Pacquiao has been on a roll. He came out of his rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera in October 2007 a winner by unanimous decision. He outlasted Juan Manuel Marquez in their own sequel last March and won via split decision. Less than three months later in June, Pacquiao blew by David Diaz en route to a technical knockout win in Pacquiao's rousing debut at 135 pounds, his heaviest to that date. That gave Roach, Pacquiao's father figure of a coach, the confidence to tinker with a Golden Boy face-off. De la Hoya has gone the opposite direction. He has fought only four times in the last four years, splitting the results. That gave Roach the confidence to call de la Hoya a fighter who "can't pull the trigger". That wasn't his only jab at de la Hoya. He called him "old". He predicted Pacquiao would knock him out in the ninth round. He said he was using all that he knew about de la Hoya (from the time he trained him a year ago) against him. And he wasn't through. "Oscar's so tight," Roach said. "I've never seen a fighter who is so experienced so tight before a fight." Pacquiao, who has constantly reminded his team to relax, has never been in a fight as big as this. De la Hoya is Pacquiao's biggest opponent ever. De la Hoya isn't only at least four inches taller than Pacquiao, he is some 15 pounds naturally heavier than he is. Figuratively, nobody among active boxers is as big as de la Hoya. He is an Olympic gold medalist. He is a six-division world champion. And he will leave the sport as the richest pay-per-view fighter in history. There's no telling how high up the heavens Pacquiao's status will shoot up if he takes down de la Hoya. "If you sacrifice and dream about a fight, you can win," Pacquiao said. "It's hard to explain how happy I am right now." He'd have a harder time explaining how happy he will be when this fight is over. Win or lose, Pacquiao is guaranteed $11 million or some P539 million, easily the biggest purse won by any Filipino athlete ever. Barring a killjoy, recession-stricken US economy, Pacquiao stands to earn more in pay-per-view sales. "We know based on those early numbers and based on experience the event will perform extremely well," Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc., who promotes Pacquiao, said. To cushion the blow that a grim economy might bring, the promotions side led by Arum and de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions went on overdrive. There was a crosscountry media tour that began at The Statue of Liberty. Several international press-conference calls were held. HBO Sports, which holds the PPV rights of the match, produced a four-part special that chronicled the camps of both fighters during their training. Major web sites were constantly flooded with news, updates, tidbits and blogs. Hollywood celebrities and stars from other sports were regular visitors during training camp. A "Mexicans for Pacquiao" movement was even launched. De la Hoya, on the other hand, called this bout personal and reminded Pacquiao of how he "dishonored" him in a botched deal between them two years ago. With all the hype, the intense buildup and the exposure, it can't get any better than this for Pacquiao. Well, yes it can. If he goes on to beat de la Hoya. "I go through scenarios before I go to bed every night," Roach said. "I can't sleep until I come up with the right ending. And it always ends with Manny knocking him out." Recent news reports showed that this bout won't any be different from the ones the country used to see on a Pacquiao red-letter day. Cops expect zero crime. The roads will be empty. Pacquiao's General Santos City hometown will be rocking. His family, especially his mother Dionisia, will be waiting with bated breaths and a rosary in hand. Moviehouses, hotels and bars with pay-per-view access will host dozens of fight fans. The only difference may be that Pacquiao's wife Jinkee, who is pregnant, will not be at ringside. Her husband advised her to stay in their suite. Jinkee and her mother-in-law Aling Dionisia did say they were concerned about Pacquiao facing de la Hoya. "Because Oscar is big," each said on separate interviews. De la Hoya reminded the two and the 80 million other citizens of Pacquiao nation the challenge that lies ahead. "I will be extremely, extremely disappointed if this fight doesn't end in a knockout," De La Hoya said. "It will be a total disaster for me." Now that that has been said, everybody knows what time it is. Game time. - GMANews.TV / With AP