De La Hoya Wants a Knockout and Freddie Roach Promises One

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 11.18.2008

Coach Roach goes on the offensive again while also claiming Oscar got slapped around by Ivan Calderon.

During a conference call yesterday as we reported, Oscar De La Hoya talked about the need to win by knockout, claiming it would be a disaster if he didn't. In light of those comments, Freddie Roach today had some things to say to his former pupil.

"Tell Oscar not to worry, the fight WILL end in a knockout. On December 6, Oscar's going to think he's back in the 1930's when Manny airmails him into The Great Depression," responded Roach. "I can see when the paperback version of Oscar's autobiography comes out. It will begin by paraphrasing the opening line of Moby Dick. Only instead of starting with ‘Call me Ishmael,' it will be 'Call me Ishtar,' one of the biggest box office flops in motion picture history. Mark my words he will flop too. Oscar can't pull the trigger anymore. Losing all that weight doesn't impress me. Twiggy is going to find out that looking the part is not equivalent to acting the part, a lesson Muhammad Ali learned when he fought Larry Holmes."

On another note, in Roach's blog this week for The Ring Magazine, Freddie talked about a sparring session that Oscar De La Hoya reportedly had with junior flyweight champion, Ivan Calderon.

"Calderon slapped Oscar around like it was unbelievable. I said between rounds one time, "Oscar, I want you to hit him one shot to show him who's boss." He couldn't do it. I got mad at him. I told him the same thing another time; we used Calderon for a couple of days. I said, "Go ahead and hit that little mother." Again, he couldn't do it. Calderon was too quick and had a southpaw stance, like Manny does. That's when I thought of Manny. I knew then it was a winnable fight."

With only a few weeks left to go, the personal jabs continue to mount.