Oscar De La Hoya eager for Manny Pacquiao fight

The Times' Lance Pugmire reports:

"You've never seen me like this," Oscar De La Hoya says loudly, lying on his back on the boxing ring canvas of a Big Bear Lake training gym. "You'll never see me like this."

If the strategy De La Hoya refined in the San Bernardino Mountains works as planned, the person he expects to be flat on his back on Dec. 6 is his opponent, Manny Pacquiao.

De La Hoya, 35, hasn't knocked down a fighter in more than two years, and he hasn't won by a true knockout since 2000, when he belted the forgotten Derrell Coley. In 11 fights since, De La Hoya suffered four losses and the most impressive of his four technical knockouts came against Fernando Vargas in 2002.

But now, De La Hoya, who has fought at or above 150 pounds in nine consecutive bouts, has a date with current lightweight (135-pound) champion Pacquiao in a bout set at 147 pounds. It was a match made mostly because of the can't-miss marketing appeal that pits the world's most popular fighter against the sport's top pound-for-pound champion.

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-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Oscar De La Hoya, photographed during an open workout at his training camp in Big Bear, is preparing for his Dec. 6 fight against Manny Pacquiao. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press