[UPDATE] ‘I’m not shocked. It’s almost expected’–De la Hoya

 

KARLOS RANSA, YouTube Review

“I’m not shocked… it’s almost expected,” Oscar de la Hoya declared shortly after he stepped out of the ring following his crushing defeat to Filipino folk hero Manny Pacquiao Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Manny Pacquiao is a great fighter,” said De la Hoya, who only for the second time in his 16-year professional boxing career was stopped in a fight. “He deserves all the accolades.”

Pacquiao, billed as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, dominated his bigger opponent throughout the entire eight-round bout, badly beating De la Hoya that he refused to come out of his corner after the last round.

“He fights a tremendous fight,” De la Hoya told HBO Sports. “Manny Pacquiao boxed on his toes very well and he waited for me to make the mistakes.”

Some wonder if his reduced weight had something to do with the battering he got from the reigning WBC Lightweight Champion.

De la Hoya had to weigh less than his normal fighting weight so he could face Pacquiao in the welterweight bout billed The Dream Match.  In his seven-year boxing career, it was the first time he fought at 147 pounds. When he stepped onto the scales before the fight began, he was unofficially weighing a pound less than Pacquiao’s 148.5.

But the 35-year-old Mexican American would not attribute his defeat to the issue of weight.

“He’s just a good fighter and I have nothing bad to say abut him,” said De la Hoya, an Olympic gold medalist and a 10-time world champion in six weight classes. “Manny Pacquiao prepared for this like a true champion.”

Was De la Hoya shocked at his defeat, which pundits say could signal the end of his stellar boxing career?

“I’m not shocked. At this stage, when you face a great fighter like Manny then you know it’s almost expected,” he said.

De la Hoya still wouldn’t like to call it quits actually. “My heart still wants to fight, that’s for sure. But when your physical doesn’t respond, what can you do? So I have to be smart and make sure I think about my future.”

Would this loss send him into retirement?

“We’ll see what happens. Like I said, I love the sport. When it’s not your night and a true champion beats you, obviously there’s another day tomorrow.”