Oscar 'stronger than ever'

De La Hoya: Not sacrificing power

The first thing that Nacho Beristain told me when we started working together was 'I can bring out more power from your left hook.' And I looked at him and I said to myself, you must be crazy.

Oscar De La Hoya
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DE LA HOYA v PACQUIAO
12 Rounds Welterweight
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Oscar De La Hoya believes he will punch harder than ever despite having to drop down to welterweight to take on Manny Pacquiao on December 6.

De La Hoya, much like Ricky Hatton did with Floyd Mayweather Snr, has gone 'back to basics' with new trainer Nacho Beristain and believes he will be sharper than at any time during his illustrious career.

He revealed that working with Mexican Beristain has helped him find some hitherto untapped power which he hopes will stop Pacquiao in his tracks.

"Well, from the looks on Daniel Zaragoza's face, I don't think we're sacrificing any power," he said. "He's holding the mitts for me and we're punching harder than ever.

"The first thing that Nacho Beristain told me when we started working together was, 'I can bring out more power from your left hook'. And I looked at him and I said to myself, you must be crazy. What are you talking about? I have a pretty strong left hook.

Firm believer

"He said, 'No, I can bring out more power from your left hook. It depends on the angle of where the punches are coming from'.

"And I didn't believe him, but now I'm a firm believer. He's the best trainer I have had because we're going back to the basics.

"We're learning the ropes again and we're going back to throwing those one-two-three punch combinations that helped me win so many world titles. So the power's going to be probably even stronger come fight night."

However, losing upwards of seven pounds over the last two months could have a debilitating effect on the Golden Boy come December 6, something the 35-year-old is wary of.

"Coming down in weight is a big issue because I don't know how I'm going to react, how my body's going to react come fight night," he said. "I'm feeling great here in training camp, but come fight night, it's a whole different story.

"My conditioning has been a big issue for a lot of people over the years. And that's my primary concern. When you combine my coming down in weight and my issues with stamina, it can be a big problem.

"And therefore I'm just working hard and focusing on making sure I fight 12 hard rounds."

Perfect world

But the six-weight world champion believes that his clean living will help to prolong his career and keep him in the kind of shape that could see him involved in more 'superfights' down the road, including a possible match-up with Hatton.

"I've actually looked at so many athletes' careers, and I've looked at all of the negatives, not the positives," he said.

"I've looked at how they've mismanaged their careers. I've looked at how they don't have a strong team around them.

"I've looked at athletes who go bankrupt, who spend too much money, I look at all of that. And that's how I created my perfect world. That's how I learned.

"I've been able to establish myself as one of the smarter athletes out there because of the mistakes that these athletes have made in the past."