BEING RIGHT ABOUT PACQUIAO

KO? Check.

Later round? Double check.

Complete and total dominance? Uhm...sorry, didn't catch that one.

When Manny Pacquiao started out by flicking jabs and left straights at de la Hoya right in the very first round, my first thought was "Oh shit, dance around Manyy, tire him out, don't go toe to toe, not just yet!")

But then, I noticed one other thing. De la Hoya couldn't hit Pacquiao at all. The slick moving, quick dancing, weaving and bobbing Pacquiao turned the Golden Boy into a turnstile which just kept going  around and around and around.

And when Pacquiao pummeled a cut into de la Hoya's nose int he 2nd and closed Golden Boy's left eye in the 6th, I knew it was a matter of only time until I was proven right.

The main bone of contention now seems to be: if you were de la Hoya, would you have cried "No mas" or would you have gone down swinging?

PACQUIAO-DE LA HOYA FEARLESS FORECAST!

I've kept my mouth shut the past month, reading up on all things Pacquiao and de la Hoya.

And now, I'm ready to make my prediction.

Pacquiao by split decision or late KO.

Pacquiao has gotten bigger, stronger and more chiseled without seemingly losing any of his trademark speed.

He's also acutely aware that the eyes of an entire nation is glued on his every move and that his legacy can be cemented by this one fight.

De La Hoya, on the other hand, had to reinvent himself to prepare for this fight. He's doing things he's never done before in an effort to counter what he perceives to be Pacquiao's strength, including doing a Rocky 4 (moving to austere conditions where he pitted himself against the elements, so to speak).

But will it be enough? I don't think so. I think de la Hoya will make the mistake of thinking he's still the same dominant fighter he was 5 years ago. By trying to dominate Pacquiao from the get-go, de la Hoya will lose steam and become vulnerable in the latter rounds. 

What Pacquiao has to do is refuse to play along and dance away in the first 4 rounds. De la Hoya made a prediction that he will knock Pacquaio out by the 4th round and he will use up energy to do so. By dancing away, Pacquiao can frustrate de la Hoya and cause him to expend his energy.

So that's the way I see it. Pacquiao by split decision or late KO.

To the Pambansang Kamao, mabuhay ka!