It’s commonly accepted that Manny Pacquiao (43-3-2, 34 KOs) has peaked. Fresh from a pair of devastating wins over Erik Morales, it’s clear that the super featherweight dynamo has reached the height of his powers.
But peaking powerhouses are often ripe for an upset. Just as it’s assumed that no one can meet their fire, they go and lose. A recent example if Jeff Lacy – so cruelly beaten by Joe Calzaghe over a year ago – but the example is backed up by the likes of Mike Tyson, Simon Brown, and Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad.
We already know that it doesn’t take a great deal from distracting the Filipino from his devastating best. The late Agapito Sanchez combined caginess and rough tactics to earn a 2002 technical draw. Excess fan attention and rows over purses aided the Morales cause in fight one, but now more than ever the Pac attack risks being blunted.
With Freddie Roach preparing Oscar de la Hoya for the upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr fight, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions in a promotional tug of war (after Manny signed contracts with both sides) to run Manny’s career, and time spent away from the gym to pursue a career in politics, the 28-year-old southpaw may not be putting his energies into the right direction.
As such, his opponent at the San Antonio, Texas Alamodome, Jorge Solis, may have been handed all the help to cause an upset. Little is known of Mexico’s Solis, 27, whose unbeaten record (32-0-2, 22 KOs) is marred only by a pair of draws and a No Contest against Humberto Soto.
But just as unheralded Soto shocked everyone by outworking Rocky Juarez a couple of years ago, Solis will be primed to do the same. In similar circumstances, the Mexican has the element of surprise going for him – and without Roach’s fine-tuning, the Pac Man may be ragged and disorganised.
Yet Pacquiao – a former champion at flyweight, super bantamweight, featherweight and a man who has faced such modern greats as Barrera, Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez – is a hard fighter to discourage. Since sitting down on his right hook, he’s become a better-rounded fighter.
Nonetheless, Barrera was out of sorts and it wasn’t until after Morales lost miserably to Zahir Raheem that Manny overwhelmed ‘El Terrible.’ For all we don’t know about Solis, he’s young, busy, and in the prime of his career – something that Manny’s not encountered for a while.
Presuming the Filipino gets the job done, his next step looks uncertain. Thanks to the Arum-de la Hoya divide, a shot at WBC 130-pound champion – also an exhilarating rematch – Juan Manuel Marquez may not happen any time soon.
Thankfully, Humberto Soto is in line to fight Manny’s brother Bobby, on the Cotto-Judah undercard. With a brutal KO looking likely, Arum may be able to manufacture a rivalry between two powerful fighters from his own stable.
Though the main event for Top Rank’s PPV is a curious one – Solis lacks even the insider respect of Soto – the show is worth watching for a stacked undercard that features Brian Viloria v Edgar Sosa for the vacant WBC light flyweight title, and best of all, Jorge Arce’s first real fight for some two years, as he challenges for Cristian Mijares’ WBC super flyweight crown.
Mijares, a slick southpaw, has had great practise to take on he brawling Arce. Twice fending off rugged home fighter Katushige Kawashima in Japan (W12 and KO10), the 25-year-old proved he could both take a punch (see the first fight, where he rose from an early knockdown) and punch (his combinations securing a late stoppage in the rematch).
A good mover, neat combination puncher and an uncommonly smart fighter for his age, Mijares has been one to watch.
While Kawashima was semi retired and coming off tough losses, I can’t think of any fighter to prepare a young man from taking on Arce. Given that this is a title fight, Jorge won’t be allowed to pile on as much weight as has become the norm. Indeed, the weight advantages held over Hawk Makepula and Julio Ler – in gross mismatches, it has to be said – may have portrayed Arce as a bigger monster than he is.
