MANNY PACQUIAO vs. OSCAR DE LA HOYA (Site*) 

Description : Here we have the official MGM Grand Las Vegas main event onsite poster. This fight was billed as The Dream Match. The bout took place on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided not to continue with the fight before the start of the ninth round.

The fight is notable for propelling Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao to full-blown superstar status in much of the western world (mostly in The United States), as Oscar De La Hoya symbolically "passed the torch", so to speak, to the Pacman!

Despite no title belts being disputed, the bout received a lot of publicity since the two boxers were decorated, with Pacquiao being the current number one pound for pound boxer in the world as judged by The Ring, and a five-time world champion in five different weight divisions (Pacquiao was the reigning WBC lightweight champion at the time of the bout). Meanwhile, De La Hoya was an Olympic gold medalist and past holder of 10 world titles in six weight divisions.

Pacquiao had to step up two weight divisions (from lightweight), and De La Hoya had to go down one weight division (from light middleweight), to be eligible for the bout's welterweight division.

The bout was scheduled as a 12 rounder non title affair contested at the 147-pound welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao went into the fight recognized as the leading pound 4pound boxer in the world, nearly all boxing pundits have speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya & that the fight was a shocking miss match. But Pacman's trainer Freddie Roach said, "No one is going to be able to help Oscar pull the trigger when he faces Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6" & how right he was proved! Manny Pacquiao soundly thrashed Oscar De La Hoya, surprising many pre-fight analysts who had predicted a victory by De La Hoya. The fight ended at the beginning of the 9th round after Oscar and his corner threw in the towel as the ring doctor stated that he was going to stop the fight if Oscar took anymore head shots! It was a trouncing!

Postage: 10.00 Special Delivery... 20.00 International.