SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Mexican Jorge Solis boasted on Tuesday that Filipino star Manny Pacquiao hasn’t faced anyone like him.
But here’s the dilemma.
While he may have climbed off the floor a few times and finish the fight with a win, Solis has never fought anyone with the power-punching and speed of Pacquiao, who the 27-year-old Solis clashes with Saturday night at the Alamodome.
“I am very prepared for this fight,” Solis said just before he worked out at the Jesse James Leija gym on San Pedro Street.
But can Solis take a punch?
Solis said he has been down “four or five times” but managed to get up and claw back hard.
What if he gets hit by Pacquiao?
Solis believes he can withstand it and emerge triumphant just like what had happened in the past.
Pressed for comment why a victory over somebody like Pacquiao is not a remote possibility, Solis stressed that he is different from three famous Mexican names Pacquiao dealt with and beat up.
“I feel that I am different than they are (Marco Antonio Barrera. Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales) because I trained harder and are more prepared than they are for this kind of fight,” said Solis.
The fourth among 11 children, Solis expects a rough night as he is very much aware of Pacquiao’s power and speed.
“I know he hits hard but I am ready and this fight is something that’s way beyond I have experienced but I am not nervous,” said Solis, one of seven boys and four girls born to food sellers back in his hometown of Guadalajara.
“They (parents) sell tacos,” said Solis, who should raise the quality of his life and even those of his brothers and sisters and parents in the event he upsets the heavily-favored Pacquiao before a big turnout at the very same arena where Pacquiao made a name for himself in Nov. 2003.
On the night of his arrival on Monday, Solis said 300 rounds of sparring that he underwent in six weeks of training will propel him to a Pacquiao victory.
