LAS VEGAS ? Ring Magazine featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao has been recognized as champion by the International Boxing Association and will receive the championship belt from IBA president Dean Chance when the Filipino battles Erik Morales at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) in a fight that is destined to be an explosive showdown and a candidate for Fight of the Year.
Pacquiao and his entourage arrived in Las Vegas from Los Angeles on Monday evening while Morales, who had a mariachi band playing popular Mexican songs at the lobby of the crowded MGM Grand, failed to arrive on schedule at 5:30 p.m. today because his flight from Toluca, Mexico was delayed.
However, he showed up some two hours later with his brother Diego Morales, flying on a private Lear Jet with the plane touching down on a private runway near the famed strip.
?I expect a tough fight because Pacquiao is a real warrior. I?ve come prepared and will answer any challenge that he presents,? said Morales.
In an interview with Christophert Pronte of Fight News, Morales said he ?plans on boxing Pacquiao and hurting him to discourage his charge,? even as he played down the Vegas betting odds, where Pacquiao was slightly favored.
After an early morning jog and breakfast, Pacquiao relaxed for a short while playing black jack at one of the gaming tables, where he reportedly won $800, before a rigorous afternoon workout at a nearby gym.
The workout was highlighted by five breathtaking rounds on the punch mitts after which trainer Freddie Roach complained of aching elbows because of the awesome punching power of Pacquiao.
Roach concentrated on the latest deadly weapon in the arsenal of the flamboyant Filipino southpaw ? a right hook ? which Pacquiao threw in a vicious four-punch combination that looked capable of stopping Morales cold. Roach admitted that ?Manila Ice,? which is the code name given to what he hopes will be the killer blow on Saturday, kicks off with the right hook but the punch, by itself, is not the real thing.
The emerging strategy, judging by the workout, was the use of awesome body shots favored by Roach.
The 2003 Trainer of the Year told Manila Standard Today: ?A lot of Mexicans have good chins but if you can go to the body and break it down just like we did in the fight against Marco Antonio Barrera and take his legs away from him, he?ll have nothing at the end of the fight.?
?With head shots you recover from right away, but body shots stay with you all night long,? Roach explained.
Roach was clearly elated over Pacquiao?s condition and focus, saying ?he is making moves even before I call them. He is still loose and happy, having a little bit of fun in there, which is good this close to the fight. This is a big fight and mentally, a lot is riding on Manny. The whole country is depending on him. His focus is right where we want it to be. He is a well-oiled machine. You wind him up and put him in the right direction he?ll do the rest.?
A lot is going to be added to this fight, compared to the May 2004 fight against World Boxing Association/International Boxing Federation champion Juan Manuel Marquez.
Roach noted that Pacquiao ?was capable of fighting a much better fight than he did against Marquez,? promising that fight fans would see ?a much more scientific Manny out there, this time. There will be a lot more head movement, feet movement, side to side and he is not going to get hit so much.?
