"Oscar (De La Hoya) is just too big for him," said Jinkee during a recent party held in celebration of Manny Pacquiao’s ninth-round knockout of David Diaz in Las Vegas. "Oscar might hurt him badly."

Pacquiao is leaving for the USA tonight to hold talks with Top Rank head Bob Arum with regards to his next fight.

Arum has began exploratory talks with Golden Boy Promotions chief executive officer Richard Schaefer on the possibility of Pacquiao facing De La Hoya on Dec. 6.

Negotiations are expected to resume next week upon Schaefer’s return from a European vacation.

Jinkee’s apprehension is understandable.

Pacquiao stands five-foot-six. De La Hoya is 5-10.

Dela Hoya has fought mostly as a super welterweight (154 lbs.) and on two occasions as a middleweight (160 lbs.) in the last 10 years.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, weighed 135 lbs. when he made his debut in the lightweight division against Diaz recently.

Jinkee, however, can take solace from recent remarks made by his husband and trainer Freddie Roach.

"Manny said he can do it, while Freddie is also confident they can pull it off," added Jinkee.

Roach said De La Hoya is no longer as fast and furious as he was some years back, although his size and great left hook could pose problems.

"But Manny is good at staying away from a left hook and we plan to work on speed in the event he fights Oscar," said Roach, who once trained De La Hoya against Floyd Mayweather.

Roach said De La Hoya’s unimpressive performance against Steve Forbes last May showed a lot of tell-tale signs of the American’s decline.

De La Hoya kicked off his much-publicized professional career at lightweight after winning America’s only Olympic gold medal in boxing in the 1992 Barcelona Games.

In the event a De La Hoya deal is not reached between the parties, Arum will either pursue a Pacquiao fight against Humberto Soto of Mexico, or even undefeated knockout king Edwin Valero of Venezuela.