Golden Boy has bad night in Vegas -- and in front of Hollywood

The hype came to an end just after 8 p.m. Saturday when a smiling Manny Pacquiao, the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, entered the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to a thunderous ovation. Pacquiao, dressed in a robe in the red, white and blue of the Philippine flag, went directly to his corner, where he kneeled for several seconds in prayer.

He was followed into the ring by Oscar De La Hoya, the only man to win world titles in six weight classes. Grim-faced and serious, wearing a red robe and trailing a banner that had the American flag on one side and the Mexican flag on the other, De La Hoya entered to an ovation of his own, skipping halfway around the ring before finding his corner.

The two fighters were preceded by three national anthems -- that of the Philippines, for Pacquiao, and the hymns of the United States and Mexico for East Los Angeles native De La Hoya.

There was a crowd of approximately 16,000 – including, according to publicists, heavyweights from the worlds of entertainment (Eva Longoria, Russell Crowe, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, George Lopez, Usher), sports (Reggie Miller, Magic Johnson, Gary Sheffield, Frank Thomas) and boxing (Juan Manuel Marquez, Thomas Hearns, Mike Tyson).

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--Kevin Baxter

Comments

[Albert Eleazar]

wow! i expected this fight to be a lopsided but in De La Hoya's favor not Pacquiao's. PACQUIAO had the balls to enter in the ring with DeLa Hoya in the first place... it's very courageous of him. and to make the Golden Boy looked like an amateur boy, is more impressive. Kudos to Manny for what he had accomplished.

[Bon]

I thought that Manny had a shot to beat Dela Hoya, but I didn't expect total domination. It was sad to see Oscar lose this way - reminiscent of Marciano beating the once great Joe Louis. Oscar, thanks for the many great fights and always fighting the best boxers of your time.