Did Pacquiao really defeat De la Hoya or What?  

My husband went to his friends house to see the fight and I thought Oscar de la Hoya didn't look focused from the beginning. I think Pac won, honestly because Oscar has seemed to really not care whether he wins or not lately. I think the training was awful. Did you hear that he had a trainer, I think Mayweather's dad to train him and at the last minute he didn't do it. The trainer he had was an older man who wasn't to me quite right for the whole thing. I think that Pac having Oscar's former trainer was risky too. I mean he knows Oscar's strengths and weaknesses. Whatever the reason I know Pac is a good fighter and I am glad he won in a way. Oscar has alot of stuff going on for him that whether he lost or won he's a businessman as well. Pac is someone who is struggling in a country that is hard to survive in.

This topic has already been beaten to death in 4 or 5 discussions in the sports and Philippine sections of MyLot, had you bothered to check them out. The most recent one is this: http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1828067.aspx

Be that as it may, here's my insight:

You say: "Everyone or almost everyone knows the caliber of de la Hoya as a fighter but it cannot be denied that during the fight, he did not really box it out with Pacquiao. It was very obvious that he was holding back and not at all giving his all to the fight."

- DLH did try to counterpunch MP, in rounds 1-6. Casual viewers may not notice it but for longtime boxing fans (I've been watching boxing since highschool), what MP did in those rounds is what's popularly known in the sport as "sweet science". MP does not begin with a jab (a surprise tactic against DLH). Instead he starts with a straight left that gets in between DLH's gloves and lands straight in DLH's nose. As the straight left lands, MP ducks down and pivots to the right. In a normal fight, DLH's right counter (or left hook) would be the answer to MP's straight left. But because MP has already slid to the right (DLH's left side), there is no more target for DLH's right straight or left hook. Casual viewers like you say DLH's not counterpunching. But longtime boxing afficionados like me would say, that's because he can no longer see where the target went! That is the beauty of MP's new defensive tactic designed by Freddie Roach. That pirouette was so effective that no fighter (not just DLH) will be able to counterpunch. Now, there's also an additional element to this pirouette: once MP has steered clear from DLH, his right is already primed to land in DLH's left cheeck/eye. That's why at the end of the fight, his nose and left eye/left cheek was swollen.

You said: "Do you really believe that that that was the real form of de la Hoya???"

- Angelo Dundee, the Hall of Famer himself, who was hired by DLH as a consultant for his training, said that if this fight took place 2 years ago (2006) when DLH was at his prime, MP would still win. That's how good MP was.

Let's just be happy for MP. I feel sad that Pinoys themselves are the ones spreading doubts while all the international boxing experts are hailing MP as the best boxer of his generation. American boxing experts are even saying that he's the Henry Armstrong of this generation. That's how good he was in that fight. And it's also unfair for DLH, legendary as he is, to insinuate that he simply allowed MP to beat him up.