Oscar De La Hoya is going back to the tried and tested way of preparing for a big fight.

When De La Hoya begins his training camp in the mountains of Big Bear, California in the second week of next month for his Dec. 6 crossroads clash with Filipino star Manny Pacquiao, the Golden Boy should employ the tactics and training regimen that many times were proven effective by the ring heroes of yesteryears.

“Oscar is going to isolate himself,” said De La Hoya right-hand man Richard Schaefer a few days ago and that once the 35-year-old De La Hoya arrives in Big Bear with his team “it will be a closed camp.”

Schaefer stressed that this will be the first time in a long time that De La Hoya is using the old-school facilities in Big Bear, a mountain resort that is 7,000 feet above sea level.

It’s been quite a while since De La Hoya utilized the facilities and archaic atmosphere at Big Bear considering that in the last few years, he has set up camp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, so as not to keep him away from his loved ones.

De La Hoya is married to Millie Corretjer, a celebrated Puerto Rican singer and actress.

Big Bear is a two-hour drive from downtown Los Angeles and its bucolic surrounding should bring De La Hoya back to the time when he had to put on a pair of two-pound boots while doing roadwork and had to chop wood to strengthen his arms and shoulders.

While De La Hoya and Pacquiao have started initial training, the hard work will only begin once they conclude a six-city press tour that kicks off on Wednesday in New York.

The promotional tour will end Oct. 7 in Los Angeles, roughly two months before their scheduled 12-round welterweight duel at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

De La Hoya has done wood-chopping in the past as it is believed that it helps in upgrading punching power.

Heavyweight legends Muhammad Ali and George Foreman had included the grueling routine in their training camps.

Mexican ring maestro Nacho Beristain will supervise the training of De La Hoya, who has tapped the services anew of a nutritionist to guarantee that he makes the welterweight limit of 147 lbs during the weighin on the eve of the bout without draining himself of his vitality.

Pacquiao has already set up camp at the Wild Card Boxing Club in the bustling section of Hollywood and training guru Freddie Roach and Pacquiao himself are appealing to their fans and supporters that they be allowed to train in private owing to the magnitude of the fight.