By James Slater: Seeing the hitherto unthinkable thing happening in front of your very eyes in a boxing ring can cause a huge, never-to-be-forgotten, shock. Often it will be the sight of a once invincible looking fighter being beaten that causes this shock, other times it will be a rock-chinned warrior being knocked out for the very first time, while on other occasions still it will be the sight of a much smaller or lighter hitting foe taking out his rival that leaves the fans open-mouthed. Are there any fight fans out there who will ever fail to remember the stunning KO job Tommy Hearns did on Roberto Duran, to name just one of these momentous and unexpected boxing results.
Well, this coming November and December, respectively, we have two fights where a KO win from two of the four fighters involved would create such a shock. In November, we have Ricky Hatton Vs. Paulie Malignaggi, and in December we have Oscar De La Hoya Vs. Manny Pacquiao. Both Hatton and De La Hoya (Oscar especially) are big favourites going in, and indeed most fans expect to see them win their respective fights. But if they don’t emerge victorious, while it wouldn’t create the kind of sensation I am referring to in this article, it would still be at least a fairly big shock. But what if either Hatton or De La Hoya lost by KO? How shocking would that be?
Hatton doesn’t figure to get stopped because Malignaggi, as talented as he is, simply does not stop people. You have to go right back to August of 2003 for “The Magic Man’s” last stoppage win. So it’s fair to say, Hatton being knocked flat on November 22nd would be one huge upset. But would it be as big a shock as the much bigger Oscar De La Hoya being levelled by former 106-pounder Manny Pacquiao? Sure, it’s just for fun that I’m even thinking about either possibility. But who says thinking can’t be fun? So, which result would shock YOU the most – Malignaggi KO Hatton, or Pacquiao KO De La Hoya?
Both “The Hitman” and “The Golden Boy” have hit the mat and stayed there before; Oscar did it in his loss to Bernard Hopkins back in September 2004, and Ricky suffered the ignominy of being stopped in his December 2007 fight with Floyd Mayweather Junior. Otherwise, however, both men have proven to be pretty durable. As such, there doesn’t figure to be too much money wagered on either guy having his lights put out later this year. But if it did happen! What a sensation it would be, in either case. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I WANT it to happen, but some fans clearly do.
De La Hoya has more “haters” right now than at any point in his illustrious career, and many would love to see him fall in his fight with the opponent they say Oscar has simply handpicked due to his small size. And while Hatton is enormously popular in the U.K, as well as having his fans all over the world, there is also a good number of people who don’t like his hit-and-grab style and as such would like to see Malignaggi beat him. So it’s safe to say there will be some fans out there hoping to see De La Hoya or Hatton, or both, being KO’d for only the second time in their careers this coming November and December.
And while either result would upset a lot of fans (along with pleasing the Oscar and Ricky “haters”), the sensation caused by either unforeseen outcome would also generate a huge amount of publicity for the sport – especially in the case of the De La Hoya fight.
There, I’ve said it; Oscar getting flattened would shock me the most. But what about you guys out there?