MANILA, Philippines — Manny Pacquiao came ready to be alarmed.
He instead ended up very amused.
There was not a hint of a yellow light last week after Pacquiao finally agreed to watch a fight video of his next opponent.
The unbeaten Jorge Solis, lanky and slow of feet, also promises to be an easy target.
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Pacquiao scanned the screen for possible problems.
But the boxing superstar no longer bothered to sit through the entire five rounds that it took Solis to stop his foe.
What loomed in the less than five minutes that Pacquiao had agreed to observe was a lean, shaky wanderer.
The 5-foot-10 Solis was a tall tree perfectly cut out for Pacquiao’s buzz-saw slashes.
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Well, at least Pacquiao tried and managed to keep his mouth shut on what he readily thought of Solis.
But two invited reporters, the Bulletin’s Nick Giongco and Abac Cordero of the Star, detailed the prevailing sentiment among Pacquiao and his Filipino handlers.
“He (Solis) can’t run away, this is the opponent,” Cordero quoted Buboy Fernandez, who supposedly pointed to the Solis fight video inside his pocket.
Added Fernandez, Pacquiao’s longtime friend and chief Pinoy handler: “Solis is just there standing. I’m sure he’s now learning how to run. But Manny will get him.”
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No, Pacquiao was not saying Solis would not be a worthy opponent.
But in the exacting, brutal world of prizefighting, Solis could easily be classified as a picnic package.
At least this was what surfaced after Pacquiao had peered through the style and worth of his next adversary.
Now, hold it, please.
Unfortunately, there’s one developing flaw in his preparations that Pacquiao handlers may fail to keep under wraps come fight time.
Pacquiao can no longer hope to be a hundred percent.
Cram hard as he could, Pacquiao can’t be as fit as he had been against Erik Morales in their second encounter when he faces Solis on April 14.
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In fact, Pacquiao’s no-show for the scheduled start of the strict training program at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood had sent conditioning guru Justine Fortune frowning in dismay.
Freddie Roach, chief ingredient in Pacquiao’s superiority and success, is also no longer on top of the program prepared for the Solis encounter.
In fact, there was nothing clear on who between Fortune and Buboy Fernandez would act as chief handler if Roach, stuck with Oscar de la Hoya in Puerto Rico, failed to make it to Texas on April 14.
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Well, this may not be worth telling, but Pacquiao and his cuadrilla must be warned that the five-round video of Solis in one-sided action was anything but comprehensive.
Solis also has the craft to make things happen inside the ring.
This early, expect the Solis camp to devise ways to push Pacquiao past the sixth round, into the second half, when there’s the likelihood Pacquiao could start to tire down.
The Pacman could indeed be at his strongest, but his wind bag would hardly be perfect, no thanks to all the distractions and the cheap thrills he had to indulge in.
Solis, 27, doesn’t say it but he definitely has a clearer clue on how to offset Pacquiao’s strength and score an upset.
Solis (32-0) knows Pacquiao is soft and beatable somewhere inside there.
