A couple of months ago when Oscar De la Hoya signed up to fight Manny Pacquiao, I wrote in my column that De La Hoya would rue the day he signed up. I went into detail how Manny would embarrass him and maybe even stop him. Then I watched HBO’s installments of the “24/7” series involving the fight and changed my mind because I thought Pacquiao looked apprehensive, that Oscar was working himself up for a big fight, and that Pacquaio’s trainer Freddie Roach, had made this fight personal and was leading his lamb to slaughter.

I had a couple of friends that never had been to a big fight in Las Vegas, so we made arrangements and rolled into town last Thursday night. I ran into a couple of friends that are into boxing, and they told me in no uncertain terms that De La Hoya was a shot fighter, had trained for a quick knockout, and that Roach was a trainer very protective of his guy and would only take this fight if he was certain of victory. And then I remembered something that Dave Smith says that stuck with me as I made my way to the betting line—“Oscar De La Hoya is a full time businessman and part time fighter and those things don’t mix when you are in the ring with elite fighters.”

So I threw a bundle of money behind Pacquiao, and after three rounds I got up and my friend asked me if I was headed to the bathroom. “No”, I told him-
“I’m going to be first in line at the betting line to cash in.”
Twenty fives or so minutes later, I was a guy whose family would be getting some nice Christmas gifts thanks to Manny Pacquiao and in big part to Oscar De la Hoya.

I actually watched a couple of more rounds of an ugly one sided bout that reminds everyone that 90% of great fighters stay around too long and too many times the end is embarrassing.

Think of the old black and white films of a chubby and balding Joe Louis getting knocked out of the ring by Rocky Marciano. Not too many people remember this, but an old and shot Sugar Ray Leonard got knocked cold by one of the lightest punchers around, Hector “Macho” Camacho. I had tears in my eyes as Muhammad Ali turned sideways to avoid being hit by Larry Holmes. The great and granite chinned Roberto Duran got knocked stiff by somebody named William Joppy. History tells us that these fighters all have sad endings, and De la Hoya, who I have never considered a great fighter but a great credit to the sport and a reason to watch, was just another in a line of those to get exposed, to grow old in front of us.

He was a shell of himself, slow and unable to get out of the way of punches, cringing in anticipation of getting hit, offering no resistance while being belted around by someone who two years ago would have had no business being in the ring with him. De la Hoya, after seeing he could not get off a big punch, seemed lost and confused. Just like the rest of his career, when he was confused in a fight, he seemed lost. Much like my beloved USC Trojan offense this season, Oscar has never had a real boxing identity. And while he generically always talks about a game plan, he never has one to fall back on when Plan A doesn’t work. The ass kicking he took was painful to watch, and more than a couple of De la Hoya backers had misty eyes at Mandalay Bay, while a lot of haters had their day.

Somebody told me that James Toney, on local television, criticized De La Hoya for quitting on his stool, that he should have gone out throwing haymakers, trying to win. Geez, I think James may be a little punch drunk. I think that the bronze statue of Oscar that stands in front of staples Center had a better chance of throwing and landing a meaningful punch than the real Oscar Saturday night. With a lot of people booing Oscar Saturday night, it’s good to know he at least had a few friends in his corner to tell him enough was enough.

One irony that came out of the fight was that Oscar was criticized for avoiding the welterweight beast Antonio Margarito, yet he might have had a better chance of hitting the slower Margarito, and while Margarito would have blown Oscar out quicker, he would have been lauded for his courage than suffering a large embarrassment. Oh well, Oscar, as always, will take all that pain to the bank in the form of a very large paycheck.

Thanks for the memories, Golden Boy. You may never have been as great as you should have been, but you kept boxing alive in Los Angeles…

The other day Dave Smith was saying that Penn State would beat USC in the rose Bowl game come January 1. I think Dave must have absorbed some of the blows that Oscar did Saturday night. While USC’s offense has been less than brilliant, people who point to Penn State’s huge win over Oregon state and the Beavers’ subsequent win over USC as a reason to pick the Nittany Lions have it wrong.

PSU’s advantage over USC comes in the form of discipline and a bit more Big 10 athleticism than usual, and a great coaching staff.
But USC is better, much better.
Dave says the Pac 10 was weak and USC’s defense stopped nobody any good. I say Oregon, Cal, and Arizona would have scored 35 to 40 points per game in the Big 12. Oregon and cal are explosive teams that USC held to 13 points combined. Funny, the week before the Arizona game Dave was trumpeting the greatness of the Wildcat offense and its’ quarterback Willie Tuitama, but USC stopped them cold, only a fumble deep in USC territory setting the cats up for their only touchdown. But facts never seem to get in the way of Dave’s opinions.

I guess he conveniently ignores that Ohio State, a team slaughtered by USC, actually outgained Penn State, that a terrible Michigan team moved the ball at will against them, and that a very unathletic and speed challenged Iowa team actually, er, BEAT Penn state.
Yeah Dave, you are living up to your credo, better to have an opinion and be wrong than not to have one at all. With a month to prepare, Pete Carroll will prove Dave VERY wrong.

My fellow columnist Paul Cass irritated me to no end in his last column when he wrote that my beloved USC Trojan football team and their head coach, Pete Carroll, were, over rated when it comes to the elite teams in this country. He wrote that, sure USC improves as the season goes along under Carroll and wins their BCS games but that they beat up on the Big Ten and lost their REAL chance for immortality when they couldn’t stop Vince Young and Texas in the BCS Title game in 2006 in the Rose Bowl. I guess Paul shouldn’t have to know that USC was without 3 defensive starters that Rose Bowl, and some questionable offensive play calling deprived USC of at least 21 more points. And I guess that winning 11 games a season and going to SIX straight BCS games makes them overrated. No program in the country is better than USC. It’s that simple. Only a bad half against Oregon State is depriving USC of being in the title game. Funny no one remembers that Florida lost AT HOME to Ole Miss in a very OVER RATED SEC.

But paul is a hockey guy, so maybe he can explain something to me.
When I was but a child and used to come to my parents complaining about other kids making fun of me, my dad gave me a stern look and basically told me what we all hear- “Sticks and stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you.” Well, in the National Hockey League, you can fight every night, a crime that in public would put you in the slammer but on the ice makes you a hero, but you call a former girlfriend “sloppy seconds”, as Sean Avery did, and you get suspended SIX games? Gary Bettman said, “It’s very hard to explain to our kids how offensive that is”, but it’s okay to watch them as guys drop gloves and fight? And it seems to me that the best way for Avery to get his just due would be to MAKE him play and let someone knock him out, right? I guess that might make too much sense…