Boxing: Pacquiao stuns De La Hoya with eighth round TKO

December 7, 2008 Filipino WBC Lightweight Champion, Emmanuel "The Pacman" Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) stopped American boxer and promoter Oscar "Golden Boy" De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) after eight rounds of the "The Dream Match" in MGM Grand Garden Arena, at Las Vegas, Nevada on December 6, 2008. De La Hoya's corner threw in the towel before the start of the 9th round of the 12-round, non-title fight at the 147-pound welterweight limit. It was officially a technical knockout.

"Pacman" dominated the fight, from the opening bell, landing his straight left hand to the American's face, and later opens up with combinations in the seventh and eighth rounds. Two of the three judges scored all eight rounds for him, while a third gives De La Hoya the first round. Finally, Pacman gives De La Hoya a beating and closes his left eye in the eighth round. Pacquiao said, "You're still my idol." De La Hoya replied, "No, you're my idol."

The camp of Manny Pacquiao has previously claimed that "Golden Boy" had weaknesses the Filipino boxer would exploit. Trainer Freddie Roach accurately foretold the outcome when he earlier said, "I'm not saying we're not going to knock him out. If it happens, fine. We'll take it. What we're going to do is break him down round by round. We're working on staying away from the jab and the left hook. The hook is a power shot. But Oscar makes a mistake with his jab. I'm not saying what it is, but I've seen it."

Meanwhile, sportinglife.com reported that Pacquiao "confirmed he's up for a showdown with Ricky "Hitman" Hatton, telling Sky Box Office: "My job is to fight in the ring, that's the promoter's job. I can fight any time, anywhere. I can go to England to fight Hatton, no problem." Hatton replies: "Manny's proved again that he's pound-for-pound the number one in the sport and I still might get my dream of becoming the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world."

Pacquiao stands to earn nearly US$15 million, which also includes his share of the pay-per-view earnings while De La Hoya is guaranteed $20 million for the fight.