SO MANNY Pacquiao, as expected, has been installed the heavy favorite this weekend you could almost sense he’ll be grinding Mexican foe Jorge Solis into sawdust.
One person who is definitely an authority in measuring a boxer’s potential is no less than Pacquiao’s longtime trainer Freddie Roach.
The well-liked American trainer, credited for transforming Pacquiao into one exciting wrecking machine, has been consistently saying there is no such thing as easy fight for any boxer.
Here’s why.
Solis, at 27, will be Pacquiao’s youngest opponent since he pulverized Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in November 2003.
Solis, initial reports disclose, will be the tallest boxer to face Pacquiao at 5’10. However in their first meeting a few days ago, Solis looked just a bit taller than the 5’6″ Pacquiao.
Either the reed-thin Solis’ height was puffed up or he cowered upon seeing one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today.
“Anybody that decides to trade with Manny doesn’t do very well, so we’ll see what happens,” said Roach in a recent interview with Fightnews.com.
The latest report from the States say that Roach will likely work Pacquiao’s corner on Saturday (Sunday Manila time) at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
In watching some of Solis’ previous bouts, the 28year-old Pacquiao may find it tricky to land his trademark haymakers against the awkward Mexican.
In his most recent bout, the right-handed Solis inelegantly moved in and out of his on-rushing opponent Fernando Omar Lizarraga held last January at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
In that bout, Lizarraga caught Solis with some clean blows to the face and body but the Mexican persevered and continued to trade blows using his left jab as set up to his seemingly favorite right uppercut.
I remember vividly when Pacquiao got floored by Autralian Nedal Hussein sometime in October 2000.
I had the privilege of being part of the TV panel of that fight card alongside Quinito Henson and we both almost bowled over when Pacquiao fell after being hit by a stiff left jab by Hussein.
Though he recovered mightily from that match en route to scoring a 10th round TKO victory, Pacquiao showed some flaws in his devil-may-care style that, fortunately, has been fine-tuned by Roach.
July of last year, Mexican Oscar Larios hurt Pacquiao in the 3rd round with a flash left hook that momentarily stunned thousands of boxing aficionados who watched the match at the Araneta Coliseum.
Scrutinizing closely the Pacquiao-Morales III held November of last year, you can tell that Morales tried but failed to connect that same left hook hoping that he can complete what Larios failed to do in their Araneta encounter.
If ever, it’s that active left hand of Solis that Pacquiao should be wary of come fight night.
Veteran boxing analyst Hermie Rivera who is now in San Antonio to cover the fight could not hide his amazement in the way Pacquiao prepared for this fight.
“He plans to do a double kill as far as his career is concerned. First he’ll finish off Solis this weekend, and then his political foes will be up next,” said Rivera during an overseas telephone interview with my radio program yesterday.
Rivera said it is nearly impossible that an upset will happen this weekend.
“Malabo mangyari because when I asked Manny about it, sinabi niya dinaanan na niya ilang beses ang pagiging underdog so he knows how to deal with it,” added Rivera.
Moments later, I had the chance of talking with Pacquiao as he walked near Hermie.
“Talagang handang-handa na ako sa laban at lahat ng preparasyon ginawa ko para masiguro na mananalo ako sa laban na ito. Hindi din ako nagpabaya at hindi ko minamaliit ang kakayahan ng kalaban ko,” said an unruffled Pacquiao who was also in a hurry as he was about to be interviewed by a local TV network in San Antonio.
So there, our boxing superstar has spoken. Need we say more?
