William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

(To be updated frequently throughout the night.)

I must admit that I like Oscar De La Hoya. His career has been an endless battle against tough opponents. From a fearsome junior lightweight to a busy junior middleweight, De La Hoya has ducked no one. But I was still perplexed why he’s fighting Manny Pacquiao.

Ok, maybe not perplexed. He’s doing it for the money. After seeing Floyd Mayweather Jr. lay waste to Ricky Hatton - and then retired - De La Hoya was a farewell tour missing someone to say farewell to. Enter Pacquiao, an up-and-coming pay-per-view star.

While I think the world of Pacquiao and think he’s a rare talent, it’s hard to imagine De La Hoya being unable to use his considerable size advantage. For Oscar, who knows if this fight is winnable one way or another, for Pacquiao, a loss is of no concern whatsoever.

But I can’t help myself, I suppose. De La Hoya is getting gray, and Pacquiao will come to fight. So anything could happen. Maybe even a good fight.

Undercard Action

Daniel Jacobs TKO2 Victor Lares: Jacobs (13-0) stays undefeated in dominating Lares, who offers very little. Jacobs may have some skills, but it’s hard to gauge after this mismatch.

Juan Manuel Lopez KO1 Sergio Manuel Medina: Medina (24-0, 22 KOs) maintained his WBO super bantamweight title by destroying Medina (33-2, 18 KOs) in a 12-round title bout. That’s three straight first-round KOs for Lopez, and make no mistake, he’s got serious skills. But Medina froze and offered nothing.

Random Aside: I used to train with Shane Mosley at the La Verne Athletic Center in Southern California in the mid-80s. He was a good kid then and has been a great representative of the sport, despite recent allegations of doping. I always root for him and hope the best for him. He’s a good guy.

That said, Antonio Margarito will knock Sugar Shane into retirement next month.

Victor Ortiz KO2 Jeffrey Resto: Ortiz stayed unbeaten (23-0-1, 18 KOs) by knocking Resto down three times in less than two rounds. A nice win but Resto offered nothing. I like Ortiz. I think he comes to fight. I think he has some talent. But will he become an elite fighter? Nope.

Undercard observation: The undercard fights were just crap. Insultingly bad matchups.

Final Thought on De La Hoya-Pacquiao: I remember when Sugar Ray Leonard dropped back down to 154 to fight Terry Norris, and with the weight, Leonard lost what was left of his ability and Norris humiliated him. That is about the only way I see Pac-man winning this fight, especially knowing that De La Hoya weighed in at 145. I wouldn’t mind being surprised, but unless De La Hoya shows some more signs of aging, Pacquiao has no shot. Look for Oscar to take him out within 6 rounds.

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao Round-by-Round

Pre-fight Note 1: What’s the deal with singing the Mexican National anthem? It’s like, 45 minutes long and neither of the fighters is Mexican. Way to pander, Oscar.

Pre-fight note 2: Let me tell you something about Keyshia Cole - she knows bling.

Pre-fight note 3: I can’t wait to see them side by side. I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s going to look like Serena Williams going up against an Olsen twin.

Pre-fight note 4: One positive for Pacquiao - he’s been in big fights before. He comes into the ring looking calm and confident.

Pre-fight note 5: De La Hoya is much, much bigger than Pacquiao. With the way he’s sweating coming in, look for Oscar to come out strong.

Round 1: Pacquiao is small but strong and he know his speed is the key. He moves well, but De La hoya finishes with some power shots. De La Hoya.

Round 2: Pacquiao puts on a clinic and shuts down DLH the entire round. It’s as though De La Hoya didn’t expect him to be this fast. Pacquiao.

Round 3: De La Hoya starts using his height and throwing more punches down on Pacquiao. Manny throws fewer punches. A very competitive fight thus far. De La Hoya.

Round 4: If you’re a Pac-Man fan, this was a good round. Pacquiao dominated, finding a rhythm and boxing circles around DLH. Pacquiao.

Round 5: Wow. Pacquiao just spent three minutes battering De La Hoya, getting his attention a couple times with power shots. When De La Hoya fought Steve Forbes, I said DLH looked like an old fighter. He looks even older right now. Pacquiao

Round 6: Pacquiao looks like he owns the joint right now. De La Hoya has no answer for him in the middle the ring and Oscar’s left eye is swelling. Pacquiao.

Round 7: The wheels just came off for De La Hoya as Pacquiao outlanded him 175-46 in power shots. Pacquiao may stop him soon. Pacquiao.

Round 8: De La Hoya has nothing. Absolutely nothing. Pacquiao is having a sparring session now. Oscar’s laboring to throw a jab.

And he just quit.

Pacquiao KO9 De La Hoya

Final Observations: De La Hoya is done. Maye he could put together a fight with Roy Jones Jr., but that’s about it. This was just an awful performance. Plus, the two times I saw De La Hoya feel like he was in over his head was with Bernard Hopkins and now Pacquiao. And both times he gave in pretty meekly. In the end, that’s the story of Oscar De La Hoya - he was a tough, charismatic fighter who took on many of the best of his era - and lost to most of them.

As for Pacquiao, it was just a stellar performance. Don’t take anything away from him. He put on some weight and went up and did what he does against De la Hoya. Pacquiao just beat the crap out of him. He showed heft in his punches and unerring accuracy. We’ll see where he goes from here, but Mayweather may be thinking about taking up the game again. All avenues are open for the fantastic Filipino.

Getting up from a first-round knockdown, light-heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe spent the next 11 rounds doing to Roy Jones Jr what Jones had spent the majority of his career doing to opponents. Using superior speed, reflexes and stamina, Calzaghe dominated and toyed with Jones on his way to a convincing 12-round decision to maintain his title and undefeated record.

Jones looked like he might be able to pull off an upset as he landed as strong right uppercut that floored and hurt Calzaghe. Slow to follow up, however, Calzaghe survived the round, muddled through Round 2 and then put on a display that showcased all of his considerable skills.

By Round 7, Jones was bleeding from a cut above the left eye (courtesy a perfectly placed straight left from the UK superstar) and was left with nothing else but occasional attempts to land another game-changing right hand. Through it all, Calzaghe was fast, flashy, furious and indefatigable, not just beating Jones, but truly humbling him. One stat truly stood out - in 12 rounds, Jones landed just 12 jabs.

It was a dominant performance for Calzaghe, and we’ll know soon enough whether his threats of retirement were just that. A lucrative rematch with Bernard Hopkins awaits him should he decide to take another chance with his perfect (46-0) record. Should he hang it up, he deserves tremendous respect for his brilliant career.

For Jones, he doesn’t have to say good bye, but he can’t stay here. Following Round 2, Jones was the definition of a shot fighter, unable to get his punches off and unable to land many of them when he did. While Jones showed plenty of heart and never stopped trying, he was truly an empty shell of his formerly brilliant self. A prime-time Jones always said he’d never stay in the game too long. But he did. Here’s hoping Saturday night at Madison Square Garden was his final foray into the squared circle.

–WKW