SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Manny Pacquiao finds himself in another precarious situation Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines) but is confident that he can once again get the job done as millions of his supporters across the vast Pacific Ocean and even in locations where the fight is going to be shown fervently await his fate.
The bell for the first round of the World Boxing Council (WBC) International super-featherweight title fight is at 11 p.m. — around 12 noon in the Philippines — where the streets are going to be deserted and public places like malls, restaurants and even churches — would appear as though the day of reckoning is near.
A few hours after weighing 128 ? lbs early Friday evening, Pacquiao was holding court inside his fifth-floor suite and he told Manila writers that he is not worried about the outcome of his clash with Mexican Jorge Solis at the Alamodome.
“I am finished punishing my body in training so I leave it up to God,” said Pacquiao. “I have done my job as a boxer, I am ready to go and I am very focused.”
Pacquiao, 28, is heavily favored to boost his 43-3-2 win-loss-draw slate with 34 knockouts simply because the guy on the opposite corner has a dearth of experience fighting bigname punchers like the Filipino lefty.
Solis, 27, is such an underdog that ringsiders believe he will not last long and for the first time in 34 bouts that includes a draw and one no-contest, he will get to know how bitter a defeat tastes like.
Solis’ lack of experience showed that it was him, and not Pacquiao, who encountered weight problems.
“I ate breakfast this morning,” said Solis in an answer to queries about him having to do a total of four attempts to make the limit.
A natural featherweight (126-pounder), Solis first tipped the scales at 130 ? and seconds after taking off his underwear while his handlers placed a red towel to conceal the ritual, he was still over at 130 ?.
The Texas commission then advised Solis to shed off the excess weight within two hours and when he came back an hour later, he weighed in at 130 1/8 and shortly after that, finally made the grade at exactly 130 to the relief of his team that will be manned by his father Aurelio and his (Jorge’s) brother Ulises.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, will receive instructions from Freddie Roach, who will be flying in 10 hours before the fight from Puerto Rico. In the event a last-minute decision is made to request that Roach stay behind in San Juan with Oscar De La Hoya, Australian conditioning coach Justin Fortune will take charge with the help of Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri.
In other significant matches on tap, it’s green and go for the WBC super-fly duel between Mexicans Christian Mijares (champion) and Jorge Arce (challenger), the vacant WBC light-fly tiff involving Brian Viloria and Edgar Sosa and the 10round super-bantam match between Bernabe Concepcion of the Philippines and Texan Benjamin Flores.
Vic Drakulich (US) will be the third man on the ring for the Pacquiao-Solis scuffle, while the three judges are Larry O’Connell (England), Gale Van Hoy (Texas, USA) and Oren Shellenberger (Texas, USA).
Incidentally, Pacquiao will use famed Cleto Reyes gloves, hyped as the puncher’s gloves, making it even clearer that Solis’ execution will be savage but swift.
NOTES: New York-based priest Marlon Beof, originally from Palawan, will celebrate a 10 a.m. mass on a conference room near the poolside of the Radisson on the day of the fight…Ace ring announcer Michael Buffer is in town. Buffer had initially been offered to work a heavyweight bout in Europe but chose the Pacquiao fight. “If I were a boxing fan, I would go and see watch Pacquiao,” said Buffer, who was in Manila last year for Pacquiao versus Oscar Larios…So sure of a victory, Team Pacquiao heads back to Los Angeles on Sunday morning so the fighter and select members of his entourage will be able to catch the 10 p.m. Philippine Airlines flight to Manila…After conquering the scales, Pacquiao feasted on chicken tinola, ampalaya, beef steak and steamed rice at the backstage where cameras rolled and clicked…New Jersey-based Filipino Arnel Mendoza has arrived carrying the Philippine flag with him. The flag will be carried to the ring by Pacquiao’s friend, gun enthusiast Cris Aquino. As to who would carry Pacquiao’s WBC International belt, it’s a toss-up between Totong Vargas and Rey Golingan, Pacquiao’s close associates from General Santos. Other main supporters of Pacquiao in the US include topnotch LA-based orthodontist Ed De La Vega and Dr. Allan Recto of Laredo, Texas.
