SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — Fernando Beltran certainly knows how to market his fighters. He describes them in glowing terms and gives credentials that will be enough to sway opinion, if not fate or bet.
On Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), he raised eyebrows when he said that his ward, the unbeaten but largely unknown Jorge Solis, has a 90-percent chance of winning against Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao in their showdown for the WBC International super featherweight crown on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
Beltran then made another mind-boggling assertion: Solis, he said, throws more than 250 punches per round.
Also the manager of the flamboyant Jorge Arce, Beltran insists it will be Solis’ turn to be known as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter after the bout.
Supposedly tough victims
Beltran also enumerated several of Solis’ supposedly tough victims — even though they were clearly not in the mold of Pacquiao preys Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Hector Velasquez and Oscar Larios.
Beltran’s remarks drew a rebuke from Justin Fortune.
“A lot of Manny’s opponents say the same thing, but to get in the ring with him is a different thing,” said Fortune, a former heavyweight boxer who is training Pacquiao in place of the celebrated Freddie Roach, who is still in Puerto Rico helping Oscar De La Hoya prepare for his mega-buck battle against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5.
“We don’t underestimate any opponent, but the truth is an in-condition Pacquiao is unbeatable in the 130-pound division,” said Fortune, who credited trainer Buboy Fernandez for whipping Pacquiao into shape in General Santos City. “We’ve demonstrated that many times.”
