INQUIRER Sports

LOS ANGELES -- Oscar de la Hoya wants to make the biggest fight of Manny Pacquiao’s career a really short one. Like, say, five rounds short.

The Filipino ring icon, however, feels the Golden Boy will have a difficult time making good on that threat when the two fighters mix it up on December 6 in a card billed the “Dream Match” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“He says he’s going to knock me out in five rounds,” the pound-for-pound champion said in Filipino, reacting to reports foisted on the internet that De La Hoya’s camp is eyeing a bout that will not go beyond five. “It’s easy to say he’ll knock me out in five rounds. But it’s going to be difficult for him to do it.”

Pacquiao expects De La Hoya to go all out right at the opening bell, a charge trainer Freddie Roach said on Tuesday he wants his ward to match. And the 29-year-old southpaw believes he has what it takes to go toe-to-toe with boxing’s Golden Boy every single second of the match.

And he wants to make every second count if only for one important reason.

“I consider this the biggest fight in my boxing career, the biggest fight of my life,” Pacquiao said. “Kailangan ko manalo para makagawa ng history sa boxing. [I have to win to make boxing history].”

Pundits say part of De La Hoya’s reason for trying to finish the fight early is actually because he can’t carry himself past five rounds. But Pacquiao is not counting on that.

After all, legendary trainer Angelo Dundee feels that De La Hoya is going to win this one by decision -- a prediction he made after watching Pacquiao closely.

“I noticed [Marvin] Hagler, as great a fighter as he was, had to step before he punched,” Dundee told the Associated Press. “Now this kid Pacquiao does that same thing. Oscar will tear him to pieces if he does that.”

Don’t count on that happening just yet.

“We don’t know what the result of the fight will be,” Pacquiao said in Filipino. “He’s trained well, I’ve also trained well.”

And Pacquiao, who trained frenetically for three full hours Wednesday, added that even if De La Hoya wants to win via the full route, he’ll be ready for that.

“Kaya kong makipagsabayan ng 12 rounds sa kanya [I can fight him toe-to-toe for 12 rounds].”

Pacquiao said he’s looking out for De La Hoya’s left-hook and straight -- especially since he believes their stances will take the sting out of the Golden Boy’s jab.

“He might not use the jab as often because I’m a southpaw and he’s right-handed,” explained Ring Magazine’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.

Pacquiao said he has lost nothing climbing to 147 pounds, the weight at which the megabucks bout will be fought.

“My power is there, my speed is still there. My power, in fact, has gotten stronger. I’ve been sparring with bigger guys and I’ve been able to take their punches. I think I can really fight against De La Hoya.”

Pacquiao currently weighs 151 pounds, but he doesn’t see that as a reason to panic.

“It’s easy to lose weight,” he said. “I’m not in a rush because I still have a week to go before the weigh-in.”

Pacquiao said he’s comfortable with fighting at that weight level, so much so that he plans to relinquish his lightweight title and campaign in the welterweight or light welterweight ranks, which is within the neighborhood of his natural weight of 145 lbs.

“I’m not going back to 135. I’ll have a tough time making that weight. When I’m not training, I weigh 155-156, so it’ll be hard for me to get back to 135. I’ll stay at 140, 145.”

Although Ricky Hatton is the biggest name in that ranks, Pacquiao isn’t limiting his options.

“There are a lot of good fighters out there at that weight, Hatton is just one of them,” Pacquiao said.

Notes: Former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson made an appearance at the Wild Card gym yesterday as Manny Pacquiao was wrapping up his training, prompting jokes about how the odds, which were still tilted towards Oscar De La Hoya, will start evening up… Trouble at Big Bear? All the fuss about De La Hoya including acupuncture as part of his training regimen at the Big Bear camp in California has some Team Pacquiao insiders talking. Is the Golden Boy hurt? Acupuncture, they say, is usually a remedy for an ailment of sorts and that De La Hoya may be receiving treatment on a shoulder that might have been affected by all that weight loss… Pacquiao is expected to do some sparring work Thursday after spending Wednesday going 13 rounds with Freddie Roach with the mitts. The two continued to work on scenarios and practice moves to negate De La Hoya’s size advantage… HBO sent its crew to Wild Card for its 24/7 special on the “Dream Match.” A crew from GMA-7 was also present. Manny Pacquiao shot a short clip to promote the fight for the network… there’s no crash diet yet for Pacquiao, says chief cook Nonoy Neri, saying they’re reducing the boxer’s food intake only by a little despite the fact that the Pacman is still four pounds over the welterweight limit.