De La Hoya's Foolish Weight Loss

Whereas Margarito has made a foolish strategic decision outside the ring, De La Hoya has made one in it. I can't fathom why De La Hoya would think it was wise to boil down to 145 lbs. against an opponent who is jumping up in weight. Manny Pacquiao, his Dec. 6 dance partner, debuted at 135 this summer and currently weights more than De La Hoya at 152. That means that even if De La Hoya's weight comes up some, he's almost surely going to weigh less than Pacquiao come fight night.

One of De La Hoya's chief advantages over Pacquiao -- I would say his #1 advantage -- was size. On age, Pacquiao has him beat. On speed, Pacquiao has him beat. On stamina, Pacquiao has him beat. On technique, De La Hoya probably has a leg up, especially on defense. But his real weapon was that he'd be bigger. No one knows if Pacquiao can take a punch from a 147-pounder, let alone a man who could rehydrate overnight to the vicinity of 160. No one knows what kind of power Pacquiao will have at 147, but viable, unbiased reports out of his camp are that his power looks fantastic, so that secondary size question was already heading to null and void.

Once upon a time, earlier this year, in fact, I thought De La Hoya-Pacquiao was a total joke. Pacquiao is one of the reasons it isn't any longer, because his lightweight debut was extremely convincing, making the idea of a 147-pound Pacquiao seem less far-fetched. Now, though, it just got even more viable because De La Hoya has given away the biggest weapon he had, which is that he's just a larger man -- and while he may be taller, that wasn't the main edge he had in being bigger. And why? There's been no good explanation. He can't possibly think he will be faster than Pacquiao as a result. I'm not saying yet that De La Hoya WILL lose as a result of this weight loss, but if he does, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the main reason.