LOS ANGELES – There are two concerns in Oscar dela Hoya’s camp – an old shoulder injury and the possibility that he may have overtrained for this fight.
The shoulder injury, one which Dela Hoya suffered when he fought Ricardo Mayorga in May of 2000, has come to life once more as seen through the HBO’s “Dela Hoya-Pacquiao 24/7” which tackles deep into the “Dream Match”
The boxingscene.com wrote that in the early part of the HBO series, “there have been several occasions where the left shoulder of Dela Hoya appears as though it is still a problem for him and it is receiving special treatment.”
Dela Hoya, according to the article, was seen in training wearing a neoprene shoulder support that gives functional support to the shoulder to provide stabilization and mobility, and helps prevent re-injury of over-used joints.
T.K. Stewart wrote that Dela Hoya’s brother, Joel Jr., was seen “vigorously massaging” the Golden Boy’s left shoulder area while conditioning coach Rob Garcia was administering “acupuncture therapy.”
A torn rotator cuff could be the problem, and if it is then only a surgery could repair it. But Dela Hoya hasn’t gone under surgery, and the article said that after the Mayorga fight he said, “I will not have surgery… I’ll try to let it heal on its own along with medication.”
Then there’s overtraining aspect, in the eyes of legendary trainer Angelo Dundee.
Dela Hoya has been training for the Dec. 6 “Dream Match” longer than Pacquiao, and has been bragging that as early as so many days ago he’s already well inside the 147-pound weight limit.
Pacquiao is into his ninth week of training at the Wild Card Gym while Dela Hoya had gone even longer working it out and losing a lot of weight at the Big Bear Camp.
“I know the condition he’s in right now, my concern is that he leaves the condition here and doesn’t take it to the fight,” Dundee was quoted as saying.
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, agrees.
“For him to maintain that low weight for a long period of time will make him the weakest by fight time. That’s unrealistic. Fighters make the weight two days before the fight. I think it’s a mistake to be in that low weight for a long period of time,” he said. – Abac Cordero