Oscar De La Hoya was too embarrassed to show his face in the weeks following the stunning beating he took from Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. He has spent his time with his family, mostly in Puerto Rico, pondering what happened that strange night and what the future might hold.
Now, more than two months later, he is willing for the first time to talk publicly – and candidly – about his unusual weight issues leading up to the fight, the beating itself and his plans.
A bit overwhelmed by the decision he faces, he said he’s leaning toward retirement but hasn’t made up his mind.
De La Hoya said he knew he was in trouble from the opening bell and felt helpless in the seventh and penultimate round, when Pacquiao, too quick and too good, battered him so mercilessly that he had to grab the upper rope to remain upright.
At one point in the seventh, he said, he hoped Pacquiao would knock him out because “I felt like my hands were tied behind my back.”
“That’s where I thought, ‘Go ahead (Manny) and land something strong and hard right on the button so you can knock me out and take me out of my misery.’ That’s how I felt at the moment.”
Going into the fight, such a thing was unthinkable. De La Hoya, a future Hall of Famer who had never taken a bad beating in the ring, was deemed by most experts too big and strong for a fighter who started his career as a flyweight.
However, it became clear that something was amiss when he gained only two pounds between the weigh-in Friday and fight time the next night. Pacquiao actually outweighed De La Hoya, a one-time middleweight who was fighting at 147 pounds for the first time since 2001.
Most observers speculated that De La Hoya’s high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet was the culprit. He was below 147 more than a month before the fight when typically a fighter weighs much more than the limit, tapers down as the fight approaches and then regains some weight after the weigh in.
De La Hoya, 36, remains baffled by the weight issues but said there were times, looking back, when he didn’t eat as much as he should have and now wonders whether he consumed too much protein and not enough carbs.
He also likened himself to Roy Jones Jr. and Chris Byrd, two other aging fighters who tried to drop down in weight, were depleted come fight time and were unable to perform as they hoped they would.
“I just don’t understand it,” said De La Hoya, who refuses to blame fitness trainer Rob Garcia (as some have) or anyone else. “… I almost hit 141 a month before the fight. It was really mind boggling to me. Now, thinking about it, it obviously had to play a role in what happened.
“I have to admit that I wanted to prove I could make 147 pounds, that I could be light and still feel good and strong, so there were times I didn’t eat as much as I should have. I did come in too light and it was a huge mistake.
“A fighter should only be at weight for the five minutes of the weigh in,” he continued. “That’s an advantage I gave away, the strength and size advantage. I should’ve gained six, seven pounds.”
Still, De La Hoya said he felt fine physically when he stepped into the ring. It was after the opening bell, when the fighters started throwing punches and “I felt like I was walking in quicksand,” that he knew it could be a long night.
He said he has watched a tape of the fight more than a dozen times and still can’t believe he was so outclassed.
“Once the (opening) bell rang, I believe I threw a left hook to his body,” De La Hoya said. “He made a noise like, ‘That really hurt.’ After that, he was wide open, there for me to hit. I just couldn’t do anything. Right there I started feeling like, ‘Wow, this doesn’t feel the same; I don’t feel like myself.'
“Then, when he started landing punches at will, something happened in my mind. It was as if I said to myself, ‘You know what, it’s just not going to happen tonight.' I felt as if he could just land anything and I couldn’t do anything about it.
“It kind of felt like I just didn’t care because I couldn’t do anything about it. … Luckily, he didn’t hit hard. If he did, he would have knocked me out no problem.”
The seventh round was the most dramatic. Pacquiao landed at will the entire fight but raised his level of intensity that round, battering the proud six-weight-class world titleholder against the ropes as the crowd sat stunned.
That’s when De La Hoya grabbed the rope and wished to himself that Pacquiao would finish the job.
“I couldn’t throw (punches) back,” he said, “I just couldn’t throw back. In my mind, I saw openings. I thought Manny Pacquiao was there for the taking but I just couldn’t throw back.
“I don’t know. Freddie Roach [Pacquiao’s trainer] was sure … that I couldn’t pull the trigger any more. I guess he was right.”
After the eighth round, in which De La Hoya continued to take punishment, it became obvious that he had a decision to make: Do I continue to take a beating in front of a sell-out crowd and millions of viewers on television or do what no fighter ever wants to do: quit.
De La Hoya’s decision? He didn’t make one.
“I was sitting there in the corner,” he said. “… A fighter always wants to continue; that’s the bottom line. A fighter always wants to continue; a fighter is always proud. But I had my brother (Joel) there. I could hear my wife Millie. I could see (Golden Boy Promotions CEO) Richard (Schaefer) with a white towel in my corner ready to throw it in.
“After seeing all that, when the referee is asking, ‘Can you continue? Can you continue?’ I just wasn’t responsive. I left it up to my corner. I guess the actions of my brother and everyone else were enough so the ref stopped it.
“I just froze,” he continued. “If they would’ve told me to continue, obviously, I would’ve continued to take my beating. … It’s difficult to quit, especially when you’re a fighter. You can’t quit. It’s the last thing on your mind. I just felt, ‘You know what, it’s fine if I continue to take my beating here.’ Like I said, I’m probably lucky he didn’t hit hard. It could’ve been a lot worse.”
De La Hoya had said repeatedly beforehand that “I HAVE to win this fight,” implying that to do otherwise against such a naturally small man – even one with incredible talent – would be humiliating.
As we know, that’s exactly what happened. He had withstood the strength and fury of such opponents as Ike Quartey, Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas but was rendered helpless by a man who had fought at 130 pounds only two fights earlier.
And it happened in front of the world. After the opening bell and before the fight ended, he had no place to hide.
“It was devastating,” he said. “I’m over it now but it was devastating. I was embarrassed. That was the worst part of it, the embarrassment. It was hard for me the first couple of weeks to show my face anywhere. I just didn’t know how people would react to me. When I started running into people, though, random people in the street or when I played golf somewhere, they’re telling me, ‘Hey champ. You’re still the champ. You’ve done so much. One fight doesn’t make you or break you.’
“I was like, ‘Wow.’ It makes you feel good. It doesn’t erase everything that happened that night but it gives you back your dignity.
“ … I kept telling myself that some of the greatest fighters ever ended up taking a beating at the end of their careers, like Leonard, Ali, even Tyson. That gave me reassurance in an odd way. I thought, 'If they went out that way, then maybe it’s not so bad. I can keep my head up.'”
Now what?
De La Hoya said most of those closest to him are urging him to retire. Others, including his father, Joel Sr., are insisting that he wasn’t himself that night and should continue fighting at a heavier weight.
He said he’s leaning toward retirement but goes back and forth.
“It’s been a very confusing few months,” he said. “I haven’t been able to come up with a definitive answer. I’m still not set on what I want to do. … It’s difficult to accept on one hand that my career could be over but that I could also just decide to fight again. … I can understand fighters not wanting to retire because of the love of the game. That’s what I’m feeling now. I love boxing, although I’m in an unusual position. I have something to fall back on and can still be involved in boxing. I’m talking about Golden Boy Promotions.
“I’ve been married to boxing since I was 5 years old, though. It’s hard to break away from it. … I’m going to continue to think about. I hope that one day I wake up and have that answer. And I’m hoping sooner than later. Obviously, the last fight said a lot … that maybe I just turned old over night. I never would’ve thought that would happen to me. That’s why I’m learning toward retirement. My closest ones are telling me to retire. But then you have all the questions that you have to answer and other opinions.
“People say, ‘Look what Shane did (against Antonio Margarito). Look what Bernard (Hopkins) did (against Kelly Pavlik). Maybe it was just Pacquaio’s style. You think, ‘Well, what if I fought a guy like Margarito, who will be right in front of me and easy to hit?'
“There’s a lot to think about.”
Michael Rosenthal can be reached at
theringeditor@yahoo.comhttp://www.ringtv.com/blog/357/de_la_hoya_i_wanted_him_to_knock_me_out/
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