Famed boxing analyst says first 4 rounds of Pacquiao-de la Hoya critical

MANILA, Philippines – One legend says Oscar de la Hoya has all the answers. Another one puts that assertion in question.

Larry Merchant said on Monday that if there's any "small" boxer who can pull off a Biblical David effort, it would be Manny Pacquiao.

"If you know the history of boxing, great little men have from time to time, fought good big men and with elite fighters. There are some fighters who are so good that they can do that. And if anybody could, you would think that Manny could," Merchant, the iconic, long-time boxing analyst, said when he dropped by the Wild Card Gym to look at Pacquiao Monday morning.

Merchant, 77, is no stranger to world-class ring action. He has served as one of the sports' most venerable television personalities, handling the microphone for HBO Sports in world-championship fights since 1978.

Also a former sportswriter, Merchant was one of the first who broached the idea of a Pacquiao-de la Hoya match, bringing it up after Pacquiao defeated Marco Antonio Barrera in their rematch last year.

Merchant said a Pacquiao victory would occur depending on how Pacquiao does early in the match.

"What happens in the first three or four rounds will determine the fight," Merchant, who was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002, said. "If Manny can get through those four rounds, he can try to impose his activity on him and hope in the last third of the fight that he can control the fight."

"But Manny has to get through the first three or four rounds," Merchant stressed.

Angelo Dundee, the cornerman of legends like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard and now de la Hoya, has said recently that he doesn't see a Pacquiao victory.

"Oscar de la Hoya has all the answers against Manny Pacquiao."

Merchant, who has covered title fights of Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Mike Tyson, said he understands why de la Hoya – tangibles and all – is being tagged as the favorite.

"Oscar should be the favorite because the unknowns about him cannot be measured on a scale or with a ruler," Merchant said.

"The unknowns are his age, his inactivity, fighting a southpaw, who knows? And those intangibles you will only know once you get into the ring. And when people are betting, they are betting on what they know."

Merchant said Pacquiao and de la Hoya will work on their strengths and he expects few surprises.

On de la Hoya: "Oscar has height advantage, which is maybe more important, more than weight advantage and Manny has to find a way to cope with that. And he's got a great left hand. And Manny's got to find a way to deal with that, to neutralize him. Oscar's right hand is not a great weapon.

"The guys Oscar fought – Hector Camacho and Pernell Whitaker – are pure boxers and they were guys who moved around. I don't know if it is relative to the way Manny fights."

On Pacquiao: "Manny's great weapon is the surprise and the quickness of his left hand. We have to see if he lands that cleanly and how that affects de la Hoya and whether he has to make adjustments in what he does because it is a shocking weapon.

"There are a very, very few left-handed power-punchers and opponents don't see it coming that's why it has such an impact on Manny."

While Merchant hails Pacquiao's signature left power shot, he's interested to see whether it will affect the naturally bigger de la Hoya.

"What Manny has is that he is in his prime, has great energy and is a left-handed real puncher. Let's see how much his power will match up with a bigger man because Oscar has a good chin even among bigger men and those are only some of the questions that can only be answered in the ring." - GMANews.TV

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/137268/Famed-boxing-analyst-says-first-4-rounds-of-Pacquiao-de-la-Hoya-critical

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