JORGE SOLIS plans to give Manny Pacquiao a dose of his own medicine when they slug it out next month at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
“It was at the Alamodome where Pacquiao beat Barrera and I am going to do to Pacquiao what he did to Barrera in 2003,” Solis said as quoted by Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez yesterday from Los Angeles.
Solis said Pacquiao was still a nobody when he fought Barrera and he intends to do the same. That win opened the window of opportunities for Pacquiao, who is now considered as country’s richest athlete with his mega fights and lucrative commercial contracts.
“I am in a similar position right now. Nobody believes that I can win. Let’s all see,” said Solis, who, instead of being intimidated with Pacquiao’s 11th-round destruction of Barrera, sees that fight as a source of inspiration.
This early, Pacquiao is tipped as the heavy favorite when he battles the relatively unknown Solis on April 14.
Jimenez bared that Solis has been training in the mountains of Otomi “the past two weeks” and is looking forward to scoring a huge upset.
“Solis is very determined to win,” said Jimenez.
Solis, nicknamed Coloradito, has been busy sparring with Wary Beltran and 18-year-old lightweight phenom Humberto Gutierrez. He’s being helped out in his training by younger brother, Ulises, who is the reigning International Boxing Federation lightflyweight titleholder,
“(Jorge) Solis used to be trained by Jesus Rivero, but not anymore. His brother (Ulises) is now with him in Otomi,” said Jimenez.
Rivero once worked the corner of Oscar De La Hoya and is considered one of Mexico’s finest cornermen alongside Ignacio Beristain, who trains the Marquez brothers – Rafael and Juan Manuel.
Also lending a hand in his preparation for the biggest fight of his career is strength coach Raul Robles.
Jimenez added that Robles had previously worked with the legendary Erik Morales and welterweight terror Antonio Margarito.
Solis, 27, began his training for the Pacquiao bout while the Filipino southpaw was still in the Philippines attending to the needs of his impending entry into politics, a sign ringsiders believe that Pacquiao is not at all bothered by what his unheralded foe could do.
Pacquiao, 28, began training in the third week of February although he did miss a couple of training days in the next three weeks that followed until his departure for Los Angeles over the weekend.
When he reports for training at the Wild Card on Monday afternoon (Tuesday in the Philippines), Pacquiao will try to convince the regulars there that his 50-something rounds of sparring in General Santos City were of high quality.
