LAS VEGAS ? As long as Erik Morales is trading blows with Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, trainer Freddie Roach won?t be able to sit back and relax.
Roach expressed the belief on Tuesday that Morales will come out of his corner smoking and unmindful of the dangers that a heated exchange opposite a heavy hitter poses.
“I believe that Morales will come out really strong. We just have to be prepared for the early onslaught and if we can do that, the fight?s going to be over (for Morales),” Roach said after presiding over Pacquiao?s third-to-the-last workout at the oven-hot IBA Gym.
“When he starts to fade away, it?s over,” said Roach, who has been calling the shots in the Filipino?s corner since mid-2001.
Told about the possibility of the fight ending early, Roach almost ruled it out, saying he sees the bout ending in the “ninth, tenth or eleventh round” although he made it clear he doesn?t think it will go to the scorecards.
“I don?t see this going the distance. Down the stretch around the ninth, tenth or eleventh round, we are going to knock him out. It will all boil down to who is the freshest down the stretch. And I really believe it is my guy,” said Roach, his white shirt drenched in sweat after enduring the pounding that he took during the five-round session with the mitts.
What made Roach think that Morales will go for a knockout early was the decision to wear the Cleto Reyes gloves, preferred by punchers, and not the Japan-made Winning, which is noted for its heavy padding in the knuckle area.
“He ordered Reyes gloves and this time if he is wearing them, it means he is not concerned hurting his hand so much. He is concerned about an early knockout and if he breaks his hand, he breaks his hand. But I think the gloves will be an indication that he will be starting quickly,” added Roach.
It is also being considered that Morales ? even if he makes the super-featherweight limit of 130 lbs on Friday ? will be weakened by the difficulties getting his weight down after starting training camp bloated.
Pacquiao was not vocal about the way the fight?s going to end but he assured his fans and countrymen back home that he will not let them down.
“This is for the honor of my country,” Pacquiao told US media outlets following the two-hour workout.
Meanwhile, Morales will hold his own workout for the media on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Top Rank Gym. He arrived here on board a private plane from Mexico late Monday night.
A press conference at the Cox Concourse inside the UNLV campus is booked for Thursday noon.
