Don’t Take Anything Away From Pacquiao: He wasn’t the one that sold the fight!

Manny Pacquiao is now bigger than he ever was.

Even Jinky is happy now.

He did what he had to do.

Oscar De La Hoya did not.

He has opened a big question mark on the Bernard Hopkins fight, where he seemed to have taken a dive, and now this. Most of the people I spoke with today coincide that Oscar sold the fight, and himself.

Big money. easy money.

He’ll always be remembered by this fight where after clearly hurting Pacquiao in the first round he just stood in the ring to play punching bag. Many of his fans bet all they had on him. He doesn’t seem to care. Just as some have said before, Oscar seems to care only about himself: loyalty and honor come second to the mighty dollar.

I always thought Oscar wasn’t the real thing. Then he convinced me, and millions of fans, when he came back to beat great champions like Julio César Chávez, Miguel Angel González, and Fernando Vargas. Today he stands in front of the boxing public as the champion that gave up voluntarily which brings the question: was Oscar the Promoter in the ring last night? There is a strong probability that this is the case.

One thing is to being unable to deal with the speed and power of Pacquiao, and another to lock yourself into a corner to let Pacquiao dish it out until they stop the fight. Without even making an effort to let your hands go.

Was he old last night? No excuse. Even old fighters throw punches, especially when they are being bitch slapped by a much smaller, younger and less skillful fighter.

Ask George Foreman.

We are the first ones to admit that we were wrong about the incredible outcome of the fight. We just didn’t know that Oscar wasn’t going to fight.

He has disgraced himself. Maybe for millions of dollars.

Shameful non the less.

It doesn’t matter how many times you look at the fight, Oscar refused to give it all, and that’s what great fighters do. In the eyes of many of the fans and experts I spoke with today Oscar is not a great fighter: he’s a great performer.