By Barry Mcguigan
Mirror UKThere is something about the December showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao that sits uneasily with me.
I'm all for novelty, but it is a bit rich for De La Hoya to line up against an opponent who is essentially three weight divisions below him.
Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto at welterweight or Sergio Mora at light middle are all more credible opponents. De La Hoya has not fought at 147lbs since 2001. Pacquiao has fought at 135lbs only once, last time out beating David Diaz for his world lightweight crown.
The question therefore is can Pacquiao carry the weight of a jump up two divisions? I believe that he is just not big enough, despite looking spectacular in his one outing at lightweight.
He is so much smaller than De La Hoya, who will come into the fight a stone heavier than he is at the weigh-in 30 hours before hand, effectively a middleweight.
This is classic big man versus little man stuff.
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