LAS VEGAS ? No doubt about it, there?s bad blood between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales.
Morales has repeatedly said the better man didn?t win when Pacquiao knocked him out last January. He blamed his drastic weight loss for the setback and the other day, claimed Pacquiao?s punches never hurt him in an HBO TV interview.
When told Pacquiao promised to give him a beating in their rubber match here tonight (tomorrow morning, Manila) to force his retirement, Morales recoiled and said the Filipino has no b*lls.
That?s why Gerry Pe?alosa, the former World Boxing Council superflyweight champion on the comeback trail, is expecting a war in the “Grand Finale.”
Pe?alosa trained six weeks with Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles then went to El Paso, Texas, to halt Mauricio Martinez of Panama in the ninth round last Oct. 21. Pe?alosa is now promoted by Oscar de la Hoya?s group Golden Boy and managed by Pacquiao.
“Manny told me it?s personal between Morales and him,” disclosed Pe?alosa yesterday. “Morales has been insulting Manny in media, even talking about how ugly his voice is because Manny likes to sing and has his own CD. Manny won?t go down to Morales? level. He?ll just teach him a lesson in the ring.”
Pe?alosa said Pacquiao is motivated, more than ever before, to retire Morales once and for all.
“That?s why he doubled up on his training,” continued Pe?alosa who went back to Manila after the Martinez outing but returned here to watch Pacquiao?s fight. “Manny is in excellent condition. He?s too strong and too fast for Morales.”
Pe?alosa said he agrees with trainer Freddie Roach?s assessment that Morales worked hard in the gym not to prepare for Pacquiao but to lose weight. The consensus is Morales has outgrown the superfeatherweight division and forced himself to make the 130-pound limit for the rubber match. It?s probably Morales? last chance for a big payday.
“I was in the same situation before,” said Pe?alosa. “I outgrew the superflyweight division but I sacrificed to reduce to 115 just to try and regain the world title. I lost my power and I never got my title back. I know what Morales is going through and I don?t think he?ll last with Manny.”
Pe?alosa said the first five rounds could be even but starting the sixth, Morales will wilt and Pacquiao will take control. He predicted Pacquiao to score a knockout in the eighth round.
Pe?alosa said he isn?t ruling out the possibility of Morales running away from Pacquiao.
“After five rounds, Morales will have little left and will just try to survive,” said Pe?alosa. “So he might run away. The problem is if he?s already exhausted, he won?t have the energy to get away from Manny. That?s when Manny will finish him off.”
Pe?alosa paid for his Philippine Airlines ticket to fly here last Thursday but Pacquiao gave him a $5,000 bonus for knocking out Martinez so it?s not as if he?s totally out of pocket. His purse in the Martinez fight was $17,500 and he stands to earn a percentage of pay-per-view sales, in the proportion of $10,000 for 40,000 buys.
Pe?alosa was welcomed at the McCarrran International Airport by his parents-in-law, Rudy and Virgie Llido. He will go back to Manila on Monday.
Pe?alosa said he will bring his wife Goody and their two children to Los Angeles for Christmas. After the holidays, his wife and kids will return to Manila but he will stay to train for his next fight, possibly against World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez.
Pe?alosa, 34, was recently signed to a five-fight contract by Golden Boy with a $5,000 signing bonus. He has four more fights in the? deal. After Gonzalez, Pe?alosa said he will challenge WBO superbantamweight titlist Daniel Ponce de Leon in what could be his farewell bout.
