Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Morales to start strong By Charles Raymond A. Maxey
MANY people believe that the only way for Erik Morales to win against Manny Pacquiao is to wage an intelligent fight, use his height and reach advantage to the hilt and to avoid mixing it up with the Filipino bomber to stay out of harm's way.
And because he will come into the fight naturally the bigger fighter, Morales, will have much more success fighting from a long distance than at close range.
This may be the perfect game plan for the Mexican warrior, but the Pacquiao camp believes that Morales will be galloping out of the corner at the sound of the opening bell to seek for an early knockout when he battles Pacquiao in a super featherweight clash for the third time on November 18 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's famed American trainer, had warned that Morales will go all out and that the Mexican could be dangerous in the first three rounds.
Fighting toe-to-toe and trading shots with the hard-punching Pacquiao might be a wrong move, but this could be the only way for Morales to score a victory given his age.
At 30, Morales is not getting younger and for him to engage in a long-drawn fight will not do him any good. This, plus the fact that he will be facing a much younger and stronger boxer in Pacquiao.
Morales had won the first fight on points, but lost the second back in January in devastating fashion when he was stopped in the 10th round.
He was controlling the fight in the first five rounds but his legs and stamina deserted him in the second half of the bout and, with Pacquiao now landing big shot after big shot, eventually gave in.
Now, Morales wants to bounce back from that humiliating loss.
The Mexican was scheduled to plane in Monday night in Las Vegas from Tuloca, Mexico.
Pacquiao, 27, arrived in Las Vegas Sunday following a tiring four-hour trip from Los Angeles, where he trained as usual for the fight.
