December 7, 2008; PacMan too much for Golden Boy; TKO'd at the end of 8th!

Me and my parents woke up early today to watch "The Dream Match" between Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and Oscar "The Golden Boy" De La Hoya at the Sta. Lucia Mall Theater Zone. Ate breakfast before leaving the house. We arrived there early on, around 6:30 in the morning, so we waited for the guards to let us in at around 7:00 AM. Free snacks were given upon entry to the cinema (hotdog sandwich and a can of Coke). Then, undercards were shown. It came by so fast! Especially the fight which Juan Manuel Lopez won. He, according to boxing analysts, will be Gerry Penalosa's next opponent. Lopez stopped his opponent on the first round! Also to Danny "The Golden Child" Jones, who also stopped his opponent at the first round!

After all the undercards, the match-up of the year was shown. It started at around 12 noon Manila time. And right on the entrance of the boxers, I already knew the winner. Manny Pacquiao entered the ring with all smiles across his face, while Oscar De La Hoya entered with all the pressure in the world on him, because he is expected to win the fight. Almost all the stats where towards the direction of The Golden Boy. He has the experience, the height, weight and reach advantage against Pacquiao. But if the spped, the will to win and the heart of the fighter is considered, that is where Manny has all the advantage. He is the pound-for-pound king in boxing today, while Oscar is the most popular boxer in his time. So it is indeed fitting that they match up.

Round 1 started, with both fighters sizing each other up, but as always, Manny initiated the offense, hitting De La Hoya on the face many times.

This was the story all through the fight, Pacquiao is simply too fast for De La Hoya.

Manny was a moving target for Oscar, that is why Oscar was having a hard time to throw a punch to the Pacman. And whenever Oscar take a punch, Manny had already hit him 2 times. And Manny turns towards the left of Oscar, so that he could not be followed up by The Golden Boy, because Oscar is an orthodox fighter (where the right hand is his favored hand).

Manny was able to make Oscar's left eye close because of the barrage of punches he threw. And after the 8th round, while they were in their respected corners, De La Hoya's trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain called for referee Tony Weeks to stop the fight, thus making Manny Pacquiao the victor via TKO, improving his record to 48-3-2 with 36 wins via KO. While De La Hoya's record now stands at 39-6 with 30 coming from KO. The bout ended with Manny Pacquiao's face clean from any wounds. Still fresh, just like when he entered the ring. While Oscar's left eye were swollen. He was unable to attend the dinner press conference because he was rushed to the hospital for examinations.

Ricky Hatton, the IBO Light Welterweight Champ, has vowed to face the winner of the said fight, and in this case, it's Manny Pacquiao. The proposed venue will be on the Wembley Stadium in England, which can hold up to 100,000 people. And the proposed date is on May 2009. That should be one to look forward to. And if ever Manny defeats Ricky, he will become a 5-time champ in 5 different weight divisions!

So once again, congratulations to Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao for that terrific win, and once again, bringing pride and glory to the Filipino nation!

Looking forward to the Hatton fight! Go Manny! :)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here... :)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)