Genre: Information/Explanation

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao , also billed as The Dream Match , was a professional boxing welterweight superfight . The bout took place on December 6 , 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena , Las Vegas , Nevada , United States . Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided not to continue with the fight before the start of the ninth round . The card was a co-production of Bob Arum ' s Top Rank Boxing and De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and was aired live on pay-per-view ( PPV ) on HBO PPV . The fight is notable for propelling Manny Pacquiao to full-blown superstar status in much of the western world ( mostly in The United States ) , as Oscar De La Hoya symbolically " passed the torch " , so to speak , to Pacquiao . Despite no title belts being disputed , the bout received a lot of publicity since the two boxers were decorated , with Pacquiao being the current number one pound for pound boxer in the world as judged by The Ring , and a five-time world champion in five different weight divisions ( Pacquiao was the reigning WBC lightweight champion at the time of the bout ) . Meanwhile , De La Hoya was an Olympic gold medalist and past holder of 10 world titles in six weight divisions . Pacquiao had to step up two weight divisions ( from lightweight ) , and De La Hoya had to go down one weight division ( from light middleweight ) , to be eligible for the bout's welterweight division . The ideas of having De La Hoya and Pacquiao fight came from HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant talking with ESPN boxing analyst Dan Rafael . Larry then presented the idea to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum . Bob presented the idea to Manny Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach . It was even mentioned on the PPV broadcast that it was Larry's idea , even mentioning Dan Rafael by name . Freddie Roach since the De La Hoya - Mayweather fight has said in the media and in the De La Hoya / Pacquiao 24 / 7 series , press conferences , promos leading to the Dream Match that Oscar " ca n't pull the trigger anymore . " After De La Hoya's May 5 loss to Floyd Mayweather , Jr. in 2007 ( see De La Hoya-Mayweather boxing match ) , De La Hoya decided to close out his career with three fights in 2008 . The first would be a tune-up bout in May before finishing with two mega bouts in September and December respectively . De La Hoya defeated Stevie Forbes in the May tune-up bout in preparation for Mayweather . Due to Mayweather's unexpected retirement however , Ricky Hatton was the new potential candidate to fight De La Hoya on September 20 . However , Hatton rejected the offer because he felt the scheduled date was too close to his last bout . De La Hoya then decided to pass on a fight in September to set the stage for a showdown against either Manny Pacquiao or Miguel Cotto , should Cotto win his fight against Antonio Margarito in July . After Cotto was defeated by Margarito , it was announced that De La Hoya and Pound For Pound superstar Manny Pacquiao had agreed to fight December 6 , 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the welterweight limit of 147 lbs. On August 28 , 2008 , a teleconference was held by Golden Boy Promotions to officially announce the fight . Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank , Inc. , the bout was scheduled as a 12-round , non-title fight contested at the 147-pound welterweight limit . Although Pacquiao went into the fight recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world , some boxing pundits speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya . Many boxing analysts believed the fight would favor Oscar . Boxing analysts stated that Oscar's size , reach , experience , and good chin made Manny the underdog in this mega fight . Training for the fight Oscar hired trainers Angelo Dundee , Ignacio " Nacho " Beristain , and young boxing talent Edwin Valero . Oscar told the news that his team is unbeatable , while Freddie Roach said , " No one is going to be able to help Oscar pull the trigger when he faces Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6 " . Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale . The total gate revenues were said to be nearly $ 17 million . That amount apparently gave the bout the second-largest gate revenue in boxing history ( after the De La Hoya-Mayweather Jr. fight on May 5 , 2007 which generated $ 18 . 4 million in gate revenue ) . Manny Pacquiao soundly defeated Oscar De La Hoya , surprising many pre-fight analysts who had predicted a victory by De La Hoya . The fight ended at the beginning of the 9th round after Oscar and his corner threw in the towel . On round 1 , De La Hoya's opening punches miss Pacquiao ; Pacquiao's own straight left followed by a combination connects . The boxers exchange punches , with another Pacquiao straight left to end the round . At the start of the second round , a double jab by De La Hoya persuades Pacquiao to retreat . Only the second of De La Hoya's two combinations hits Pacquiao . A combo from Pacquiao leaves De La Hoya's face reddened . A flurry of punches from Pacquiao ends the round . The third round is more of the same as De La Hoya becomes increasingly unable to answer Pacquiao's combos . Pacquiao unleashes a flurry of punches in round 5 ; De La Hoya saw it coming but was n't able to react fast enough . De La Hoya himself lands a body shot and a couple of hooks , but the two boxers exchange punches at the end of the round . The next round begins as the last ended , with the men exchanging jabs . Pacquiao appears winded as he misses a left hook , but the follow-up lands on target . Pacquiao lands a right , and a four-punch combo to end the round . In Round 7 , Pacquiao lands a jab as De La Hoya misses his ; Pacquiao unleashes another flurry of punches as De La Hoya's legs almost gave out , just as he ceased punching back . His uppercut misses Pacquiao as his opponent releases more jabs to end round 7 . Pacquiao pursues De La Hoya's body but is warned by referee Tony Weeks to " keep them up " ( keep punches above the belt ) . De La Hoya's right connects , but Pacquiao's combo pins De La Hoya in the corner . Another left by Pacquiao dazes the Mexican-American , as the Filipino follows up with another combination which wobbles De La Hoya . Pacquiao throws another combo as De La Hoya goes for the body . The Filipino unleashes a four-punch combo to end the round . The fight is stopped before the start of the ninth round and Pacquiao is awarded the victory . Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage , with two judges scoring the fight at 80-71 ( Pacquiao won all rounds ) and one scoring it at 79 – 72 ( Pacquiao won 7 rounds and lost 1 ) . After the bout trainer Freddie Roach stated , " We knew we had him after the first round . He had no legs , he was hesitant and he was shot . " Confirming Roach's pre-fight predictions that he 'd grown too old , De La Hoya crossed the ring to Pacquiao's corner after the bout was stopped and told Roach , " You 're right Freddie . I do n't have it anymore . " When asked by reporters whether he would continue fighting , De La Hoya responded , " My heart still wants to fight , that 's for sure . But when your physical does n't respond , what can you do ? I have to be smart and make sure I think about my future plans . " On December 10 , 2008 , HBO announced that the fight generated 1.25 million PPV buys totalling more than $ 70 million in PPV revenue . This fight was only the fourth non-heavyweight bout to have more than one million buys at that time , along with De La Hoya – Mayweather Jr. ( 2 . 4 million buys ) in May 2007 , De La Hoya – Hopkins ( 1 million buys ) in 2004 , and De La Hoya – Trinidad ( 1 . 4 million buys ) in 1999 . Juan Manuel Lopez KOs Sergio Medina in the first round to retain the junior featherweight title .