Pacquiao by SD 12

I was ringside for the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Steve Forbes fight. Oscar looked simply disappointing. If Oscar De La Hoya couldn’t knockout a talented but limited fighter like Steve Forbes. I’m not sure if he will be able to knockout Manny Pacquiao. Whose speed and movement will make him a much tougher target.

Weight always affects the guy going down the most.  Oscar hasn’t fought at this weight since 2001.  While Pacquiao’s power will likely not transfer, his speed will. In boxing, speed is power. In boxing like all of the sports, speed kills.

Oscar’s reach advantage in this fight is imposing. However, this will only inspire Manny to fight on the inside where he will go to the body and slow down Oscar, who clearly has conditioning problems in the later rounds. Pacquiao is a fighter’s fighter that’s why fighters like Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. have picked him to beat Oscar.

There is that old maxim in boxing: a good big man will always beat a great little man. Saturday, we will find out if it's true.

Joe Nixon is a sports writer for Latinboxing.com