FILIPINO champion Manny Pacquiao and Mexican ring idol Erik Morales unleashed another verbal barrage against each other Thursday, raising the temperature level of their keenly awaited March 19 encounter at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
?Morales is going to feel Manny?s power?first with the left, then with the right,? said Freddie Roach, Pac?quiao?s chief trainer, according to an Internet report.
?Morales has one weakness: He?s hittable, and Manny Pacquiao is going to be in front of him every minute, every second on March 19,? added the noted American trainer, who has been developing the boxer?s right punch to make it as lethal, if not more, as his explosive left.
?PacMan? showed a glimpse of his right hand?s potential when he knocked out Thailand?s 3K Fahsan Battery in four rounds at the Fort Boni?facio outdoor arena in Taguig in December.
Not to be outdone, Morales fired back: ?There is nothing better than standing before a fighter and seeing how he reacts, how he plans to attack. I live for that.?
Even Morales? father and trainer, Jose, noted that ring fans can expect nothing but fireworks when the two power-punching protagonists clash, saying: ?Anyone who puts on the gloves and gets into a ring is dangerous. That?s what this business is all about.?
With that kind of hype, even copromoters Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc. and Murad Muham?mad of M & M promotions have billed the card as ?Coming With Everything??anticipating an all-out attack from both fighters.
The records of both boxers say it all. Morales has a record of 47 wins, 34 by knockout, against 2 losses. Pacquiao, on the other hand, has an equally impressive record of 39 victories, 30 by KO, 3 draws and 3 losses.
Still, Pacquiao, who will get $1.75 million (P98 million) for fighting the Mexican, is heavily favored in polls of two separate websites to finish off ?El Terible??majority by knockout.
In the pay-per-view web?site of Home Box Office, which is footing the bill for the event, 63 percent of respondents who cast their vote said the pride of General Santos City would win the match via the short route. Only 6 percent saw ?PacMan? winning by decision.
A total of 18 percent tipped Morales winning by knockout and 12 percent by decision. Only 1 percent of the respondents saw the 12-round bout ending in a draw.
A 6-5 favorite by Las Vegas oddsmakers to prevail, Pacquiao also got the nod of 59 percent or 1,478 of the 2,502 respondents who sent in their choice at the Top Rank website as of February 17.
On the other hand, Morales got 41 percent or 1,024 votes.
Among the fans? comments at the same website favoring Pacquiao said: ?This will be the last fight of Morales. He will soon retire due to humiliation.?
?Pacquiao by knockout third. Pacquiao is the best, that?s it!? another said.
?My fellow Mexicans, let?s face it, let?s bring with us hankie to wipe our tears on March 19. Let?s be sports OK? Let?s just accept the fact that EM [Morales] is a good fighter and MP is the better one,? a third said.
A fan picking Morales to win said: ?He [Morales] has the punching power, the skills that take boxers to the higher level and brings expectations out of fans . . . Go Morales!?
