LAS VEGAS ? They called Manny Pacquiao a quitter then challenged the Filipino camp to a $100,000 (P5.5 million) wager.
In what could signal a bitter word ward days before the fight, Erik Morales? manager, Fernando Beltran, threw knockout punches at Pacquiao and his handlers during Wednesday?s official press conference at the MGM Grand here.
After listening to an animating 15-minute liturgy by Pacquiao?s promoter, Murad Muhammad, Beltran stood up for Morales. Then he made Pacquiao remember two painful experiences wherein he was forced to give up the fight on the ring.
The first came in 1999 when Pacquiao absorbed a third round knockout against Medgoen “3K Battery” Singsurat in Thailand; the second in 2001 when he suffered a sixth-round technical split draw against Agapito Sanchez of the Dominican Republic in San Francisco.
“Once, he was hit with a body punch and when he went down on the canvass, he didn?t want to continue fighting. The second one, he was cut by Agapito Sanchez and he wanted to end the fight,” Beltran told a jampacked MGM ballroom.
“And they say they will take Erik Morales out in one round or two. I?d like to ask everyone of you here: who has taken out Erik Morales in 49 fights? So, if someone here is looking to quit, quit. But it?s Manny Pacquiao and not Erik Morales,” said the stubborn Mexican manager.
“There are fighters who, when they hit the canvass, they don?t want to fight anymore. Erik Morales has been down. Erik Morales has been hurt. But Erik Morales still continued to fight. He will always fight one more round, two more rounds or whatever it takes to win a fight.
“He will never say it?s the end. So, it?s such a disrespect to say that they will take Erik Morales down in one round or two. Here?s $100,000 and put your money (where) your mouth is ,” said Beltran, craning his neck to Pacquiao?s side of the presidential table.
As Beltran was throwing his punches, Pacquiao and those seated beside him, including his new manager Shell Finkel, business manager Rod Nazario, coach Freddie Roach and lawyer Keith Davidson, could only listen.
Even Muhammad, known for his long, loud speeches, was caught flat-footed.
“When you offer something like that you respond right away. They didn?t. I was there and they didn?t come across,” said Beltran shortly after the press conference attended by close to 200 members of the media.
No one from the Filipino camp could say why they didn?t call the wager. Or maybe they just didn?t take it seriously.
Morales, through Beltran, admitted that Pacquiao has a lot of power but stressed that he is a completely different fighter from Mexico?s Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez whom the Filipino downed in less than six months.
“I think he?s brought the confidence he used against Barrera and Marquez. But I?m different. I know he?s a warrior. But a Mexican never goes back. I?m gonna be in front of him all night and we?re gonna win this fight,” he said.
Muhammad actually got the ball rolling when he opened his speech by saying that “the Filipinos are here to upset the Mexicans.”
Holding on to the microphone too long, he was mocked and booed by the crowd, telling him to get off. But as the crowd shouted, he just spoke louder. Then he introduced Pacquiao and the Mexican crowd applauded.
The Filipino boxer looked so animated by the exchange between Muhammad and the crowd that he opened his speech by saying: “Have a good day. I like that.”
Searching for words, he went on to thank Top Rank, HBO and MGM Grand for this “big” opportunity.
“To all the people who like boxing, please watch on Saturday. I?m ready and it?s going to be a good fight. Don?t miss it. Just watch. It?s a good fight,” he said in his brief speech that was completely overshadowed by the Mexican?s.
While Pacquiao kept his cards close to his chest, Morales, as they say in the casinos, just let it all in.
Notes: The list of accredited newsmen covering the fight is so long that the person holding on the list couldn?t keep count. “It?s long and I don?t have the number. All I know is that these are 13 pages of names,” he said. Temporary credential cards have already been issued while the official fight credentials will only be distributed on the day of the fight. “We don?t want to give anyone the chance to duplicate them. It?s not that hard to scan, print and laminate them. It?s been done before and somebody made a killing selling them,” he said. An estimated 400 members of the press will cover the event. Aside from The STAR, sending representatives from the Philippines are the Inquirer, Bulletin, Standard-Today and ABS-CBN…. Ramon “Atong” Ang, a key figure in the Erap impeachment trial a couple of years ago, was at the MGM Grand Tuesday. In blue jeans and white shirt, Ang was easily recognized by members of Team Pacquiao who were at the main lobby. He must be here to meet friends or something. Because of a court case going on, he is not allowed to gamble in any of the casinos here. In fact, he?s being watched 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “He wears this special anklet you know. It?s a tracking device with GPS (global positioning system) which sends signals to a satellite up there. But he?s free to move around,” said a Filipino based here in Las Vegas.
