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Friday, January 20, 2006
Morales belittles Pacquiao
WITH all his impressive ring record, tremendous hand speed and punching power, Manny Pacquiao still doesn't scare Erik Morales.
Why should he? Morales beat Pacquiao last March, turned his face into a bloody mess, and said afterwards his Filipino opponent does not have the punch to knock him out.
Morales, the three-time world champion from Mexico, feels the same today despite Pacquiao's sixth-round annihilation of Hector Velazquez in his last fight and all the rumblings from the Filipino's camp days prior to their rematch this Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Everyone had been saying how he has been knocking all these guys out and putting them down. In the first round when he hit me, I figured out that this guy wasn't really that strong and he didn't have the kind of punch to knock me out," Morales told Fightnews.com shortly upon his arrival in Las Vegas from Mexico Tuesday.
Morales and Pacquiao square off anew on Jan. 21 in what many believe as another epic encounter just like their March clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao opened as a 7-5 favorite in the fight, but Morales turned the tide as he zoomed to 10-8 favorite in the sports books last week.
However, during the final press conference Wednesday, fight promoter Bob Arum announced that the odds has become dead even.
Pacquiao was the first to arrive in Vegas and looked in tip-top shape. His camp is predicting a victory for its fighter in the Saturday war.
Freddie Roach, the Filipino pug's famed American trainer, said his fighter is ready to go to war and expects a different Pacquiao this time around.
"Both of us will give you a great fight. I thank all of my people, my team, and the president of my country for the support," said Pacquiao, who will be entering the fight with a record of 20-3-2 with 32 KOs.
But Morales is unfazed.
"I came here to win," said Morales, who is also carrying an impressive record of 48-3-0 with 34 KOs.
"I will have a great victory for all my fans and for all of Mexico. You will see a great fight and I will have my hand raised."
(January 20, 2006 issue)
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