LOS ANGELES ? They both smiled at each other and shook hands as though they were business associates Thursday afternoon and not the main protagonists in next week?s slambang slugfest at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
After a few delays, the much-awaited face-to-face meeting between Manny Pacquiao and Mexican Jorge Solis finally took place at the Pound-For-Pound Gym with the Filipino southpaw and the ambitious Mexican puncher getting the opportunity to size each other up within inhaling distance.
The much-ballyhooed height advantage of Solis over Pacquiao was hardly noticed at all.
While Solis is undoubtedly taller than Pacquiao, his actual height is not 5-10 and the 27-year-old Guadalajara native appeared to be as tall as Erik Morales who is 5-8.
“He?s not that tall,” said noted orthodontist Ed De La Vega, a die-hard Pacquiao backer.
Pacquiao?s supporters thought that Solis would appear so tall that Pacquiao, who is 5-6, would find it hard to land his power punches in full force.
Even Pacquiao was a bit surprised that Solis was actually smaller than his advertised height.
“This is not basketball,” said Pacquiao as he was watching a video of the proceedings provided by ABS-CBN inside his two-bedroom apartment at the Palazzo.
After coming out with a seemingly harmless statement, Pacquiao focused his concentration on the small screen as if he was a predator hiding behind a camouflage of tall grasses.
As Solis bobbed and wove and threw lightning-quick combinations, Pacquiao did not bat an eyelash and even ignored a statement from one of his friends praising Solis? fluidity on top of the ring.
With nine days remaining before they square off, the tension is slowly building inside Team Pacquiao.
“You cannot take somebody lightly,” said training assistant Nonoy Neri. “If you do, you are going to get yourself in trouble.”
Aljoe Jaro, whose boxer Bernabe Concepcion is seeing action underneath the Pacquiao-Solis main event, was even more cautious in his assessment of the scheduled 12-rounder.
“Solis? hands will not be tied on fight night,” said Jaro. “It?s just like a cockfight. The other fellow also has got a knife.”
Not only that, Jaro explains.
“Solis will come to the fight in the best form of his life. This is his chance and he knows that this is going to be once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so he will be going all-out to win,” added Jaro.
