Did Oscar maybe aim for speed??

[SweetPea]

I know pac v dlh discussion has almost been beaten to death,,,, but just wondering anyone's thoughts on why DLH weighed so little on fight night??

I think there are 3 possible explanations for Oscar's weight:

1. He wanted to be as fast as possible, and he thought the best way to do that was to be as light as possible
2. His body reacted adversely to the process of draining down to 147, and caused him problems when he attempted to rehydrate (this was Roach's theory)
3. There had been so much talk about this fight being a mismatch, that Oscar wanted to prove he was the better man, not just a bigger man. He intentionally came in light because he wanted to be able to say, "Look, he actually outweighed me in the ring, and I still beat him."

I could believe any of those 3. If it's #2, then I can't blame Oscar. If it's #1 or #3, then he made a stupid decision and he has no one to blame but himself.

[ultraelectromagneticpunch]

I know pac v dlh discussion has almost been beaten to death,,,, but just wondering anyone's thoughts on why DLH weighed so little on fight night??

I think there are 3 possible explanations for Oscar's weight:

1. He wanted to be as fast as possible, and he thought the best way to do that was to be as light as possible
2. His body reacted adversely to the process of draining down to 147, and caused him problems when he attempted to rehydrate (this was Roach's theory)
3. There had been so much talk about this fight being a mismatch, that Oscar wanted to prove he was the better man, not just a bigger man. He intentionally came in light because he wanted to be able to say, "Look, he actually outweighed me in the ring, and I still beat him."

I could believe any of those 3. If it's #2, then I can't blame Oscar. If it's #1 or #3, then he made a stupid decision and he has no one to blame but himself.

I do believe on #2...

[BlackRazor]

I believe in #2 too because has anyone EVER seen Oscar look that bad/slow before? Has Manny made any other top fighter he faced look THAT bad before? If that was the 1st time you saw Oscar fight, would you believe that guy was a gold medal winner & had won titles in a # of different weight classes?

[Gandalf]

I was surprised he weighed what he did on fight night, that was a bit amiss. Oscar was crap left, right and centre. He didnt even know how to use his leverage and jab. He was beyond atrocious and to be honest I have never seen a "top" fighter get so taken apart.

There was certainly no speed there.

[KananKrus]

Not a weight issue at all.

I guess in the last few fights of Pacquiao, he has shown to possess two incredibly differrent styles of fighting. It seemingly is impossible, as it runs counter to all existing boxing adages, but it is there, as we all have witnessed.

Obviously, the transformation is an adjusment for a conceived inferior skillset when pitted against that of JMM's. Against JMM he had won from pure willpower, as a few posters here have pointed out.

Anyway the new version was first in full exhibit against David Diaz, then, continued on to the Dream Match, with DeLaHoya. In fact, a semblance of that style was tested in the Velasquez fight, a prototype if you will.

What I'm getting at is that the DeLaHoya team prepared for the Pacquiao of old, but wary of the new version... as Pac really looked very good against Diaz. Reason enough that they wanted to be lighter so as to have mobility when Pac boxed him, which Oscar coincidentally hates.

Rude awakening, as they found out the new versioin is for real and quite formidable. Oscar was unable to cope, much like Diaz found out.
Much like anyone will, in the future if they dont prepare against ; Pac, the boxer, as opposed to Pac, the awkward slugger.

Can you imagine Pac boxing, with that right hand active, delivering more power than an ordinary jab, and still have the lead and straight left, for KO power on reserve! That is an incredible feat to adjust to, on the fly. DeLaHoya, however good he is, was not up to it that night.

So it was not a weight issue at all, it was being outfought due to being outprepared!

Score one for Roach, and the Pac team!

[KananKrus]

Sorry, to the TS, got swept there...

It was not a weight issue, but indeed partially true that they have aimed for speed. However not totally dedicated to it tho'. As the result have indicated.

[Chino]

As I have said in other thread, people are underrating Pacquaio's skills coz he's an awkward fighter.

People also seem to forget that ODLH is old, worned out, passed his prime, drained, has nothing left, etc. EVEN PAC AND HIS TEAM ACKNOWLEDGED THIS.

Diaz underrated him

Why even big Diaz to the picture? David who? In that case then Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov or Fahsan Battery also underrated him. I am surprised people mention David Diaz as one of Pac's greatest achievements. I just don't get it.

I have never seen a "top" fighter get so taken apart.

I have: Ali vs Bebick, Leonard vs Norris or Camacho, Chavez vs ODLH, Tyson vs McBride, etc. It's not so much that a great boxer beat them but more about staying in the ring longer than they should. A young prospect can take advantage of those opportunities. A great opportunity for a big check and to add a big name in the resume.

[BlackRazor]

I was surprised he weighed what he did on fight night, that was a bit amiss. Oscar was crap left, right and centre. He didnt even know how to use his leverage and jab. He was beyond atrocious and to be honest I have never seen a "top" fighter get so taken apart.

There was certainly no speed there.

Exactly, NOBODY made Oscar look even close to that bad before. Some of it was Manny to be sure but how many guys would have looked good/great against the Oscar we saw last Sat. night?

[pacfan]

Weight problem is pretty easy to detect. If a fighter dehydrates himself for the weigh-in, he would naturally have to re-hydrate himself about 7 or more pounds by the time of the fight. So a dehydrated fighter would have gained at least 7lbs after the weigh-in. Good examples are Morales who went 130lbs for the weigh-in and came in about 150lb for the fights, and pac himself in his last couple fights for 130lbs; he went 130lbs for the weigh-in and came in near 150lbs for the fight - that explains why he decided to go up two weight classes for good just in a year. Oscar gained only 2lbs and as his trainer strongly emphasized, there was absolutely no weight issue in that fight. Maybe it was just a plain old aging mechanism at work or something else. No doubt he looked like an old man.

[:::PSL:::]

Weight problem is pretty easy to detect. If a fighter dehydrates himself for the weigh-in, he would naturally have to re-hydrate himself about 7 or more pounds by the time of the fight. So a dehydrated fighter would have gained at least 7lbs after the weigh-in. Good examples are Morales who went 130lbs for the weigh-in and came in about 150lb for the fights, and pac himself in his last couple fights for 130lbs; he went 130lbs for the weigh-in and came in near 150lbs for the fight - that explains why he decided to go up two weight classes for good just in a year. Oscar gained only 2lbs and as his trainer strongly emphasized, there was absolutely no weight issue in that fight. Maybe it was just a plain old aging mechanism at work or something else. No doubt he looked like an old man.

Oscar's stomach shrunk that's why he only gained 2 lbs.

And he was blocking Pac's left hand with his face. Almost kinda like protecting his right hand with face.

[Andre]

I know pac v dlh discussion has almost been beaten to death,,,, but just wondering anyone's thoughts on why DLH weighed so little on fight night??

I think there are 3 possible explanations for Oscar's weight:

1. He wanted to be as fast as possible, and he thought the best way to do that was to be as light as possible
2. His body reacted adversely to the process of draining down to 147, and caused him problems when he attempted to rehydrate (this was Roach's theory)
3. There had been so much talk about this fight being a mismatch, that Oscar wanted to prove he was the better man, not just a bigger man. He intentionally came in light because he wanted to be able to say, "Look, he actually outweighed me in the ring, and I still beat him."

I could believe any of those 3. If it's #2, then I can't blame Oscar. If it's #1 or #3, then he made a stupid decision and he has no one to blame but himself.

Intention I'd say a bit of both 1 and 3 thinking if its even then experience will overcome whats left in the age gap with added speed and reactions;

Got caught out by No 2, not to take anything away from Mannys, strength speed and skill, all of it killed off 1 and three.