Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Oscar De La Hoya's cornerman changed again Tuesday, and his third trainer in three fights will be Mexico's Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain.

De La Hoya, preparing for a Dec. 6 showdown with Manny Pacquiao, had to choose between working with an available trainer like Beristain or continue with Floyd Mayweather Sr., who signed to train England's Ricky Hatton for a Nov. 22 bout -- an obvious conflict.

Beristain has prepared world champions Ricardo Lopez, Daniel Zaragoza and Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez in the past, but it's his current standing as trainer of Juan Manuel Marquez that appealed to De La Hoya. Marquez fought Pacquiao to a draw in 2004 and lost a split decision to him earlier this year.

"I already have a plan in mind for beating Pacquiao and I know Oscar will do whatever it takes to carry that plan through on fight night," Beristain said in a prepared statement released by De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.

Tickets for the 147-pound bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas go on sale this morning at 10 through Ticketmaster outlets.

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