HERE?S A favorable piece of trivia for hardcore fans of Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao, who battles Mexican hotshot Erik Morales on March 19 in Las Vegas.
The MGM Grand Garden Arena, the 15,000-seat venue of the PPV fight on HBO, hasn?t been so kind to Morales, who has displayed his stuff there five times, including twice against bitter rival Marco Antonio Barrera.
Interestingly, Morales hasn?t scored a knockout win at the MGM Grand.
In five fights under the klieg lights of the MGM Grand, Morales has only won three times ? all via decision ? and has bowed to Barrera two times.
Morales, 28, made his debut at the MGM Grand in February 2001 against Guty Espadas Jr. who lost via 12-round decision. When he fought there for the second time in June 2002, Morales was dealt a 12-round decision defeat by Barrera.
It took almost two years before Morales returned there and when he did in February last year, he went the full route to beat Jesus Chavez. Five months later, Morales made it back-to-back at the MGM when he outclassed El Salvadoran Carlos Hernandez.
Most of Morales? sensational wins took place at the Mandalay Bay, also in Las Vegas, and at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
In contrast, Pacquiao, 26, has seen action at the MGM Grand two times, winning in his debut in June 2001, and drawing in his second outing in May last year.
In his first fight there, which turned out to be also his US debut, Pacquiao mauled South African Lehlo Ledwaba in six rounds to snatch the International Boxing Federation super-bantam throne.
Ranged against the skillful Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao was pushed to the limit and was held to a 12-round split draw.
Except for that smashing victory by Pacquiao over Ledwaba, no other Filipino has won a fight, non-title or not, at the MGM Grand.
Two months after its opening in March 1994, the late junior-middleweight Armand Picar became the first Filipino to fight there when he was paired against Argentine Julio Cesar Vasquez for the World Boxing Association title. Picar, who died in the Davao airport bombing two years ago, lasted less than two rounds.
Others who melted under the klieg lights were Hawaii-based super-lightweight Roberto Granciosa and ditto “Ala” Villamor. Granciosa was beaten up by Miguel Angel Gonzales, while Villamor was flattened by Ricardo Lopez in a World Boxing Council strawweight title matchup underneath the Mike Tyson-Frank Bruno II in March 1996.
While Pacquiao was also held to a technical draw by the tricky and rugged Agapito Sanchez in San Francisco over three years ago, the GenSan bomber hasn?t tasted a loss since September 1999 when he was stopped by Medgoen 3K Battery in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand.
