LAS VEGAS ? Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales are fighters who rarely take backward steps. Pacquiao, from the Philippines, doesn?t know the meaning of the word surrender, while Morales, from Mexico, doesn?t know it either.
So when they answer the bell Saturday night (early Sunday afternoon in Manila) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Pacquiao would be there throwing punches carrying the whole weight of 80-plus million Filipinos and Morales doing his darn best to fire back with the same kind of ferocity in the hopes of resuscitating his career and lifting the spirits of his nation.
Pacquiao, who entered the paid ranks in 1995, sports a 39-2-2 winlossdraw card with 31 knockouts, while Morales, a 12year pro, parades a 47-20 slate decorated with 34 stoppages.
“Sa bawat suntok ko ay kasama ko ang suporta, panalangin at pagmamahal ng aking mga kababayan,” said Pacquiao. “Alam kong marami ang umaasa na ako ay mananalo dahil sa napakaraming mga Filipino ang nagpunta rito sa Las Vegas para manood.” (For every punch I have the support, prayers and love of my countrymen. Many people are hoping that I will win because many Filipinos are here in Las Vegas to watch the fight).
Before he was escorted out of the Grand Buffet using an exit that is used only during special occasions on Friday night en route to his junior suite on the 18th floor, Pacquiao assured his countrymen that his sacrifices are going to pay off.
Pacquiao said he is fully confident of what will happen when he finally squares off with Morales in a scheduled 12-rounder before an estimated sellout crowd of close to 15,000.
Pacquiao?s American strategist, Freddie Roach, has devised quite a few plans to counter a few moves, including the one that will see the Mexican applying dirty tactics against the rule-abiding puncher from the Orient.
“Morales might resort to fighting dirty to take Manny out of our gameplan just like when Manny fought Agapito Sanchez,” Roach revealed after Pacquiao and his party called it a night, referring to that forgettable November night in San Francisco in 2001 when the Dominican Republic native butted, elbowed and wrestled his way to a draw.
“But we already know what to do in case something like that happens. We will not let Morales back up Manny,” said Roach, who will be assisted in corner-work by Australian conditioning coach Justin Fortune, and Filipino assistants Buboy Fernandez and Lito Mondejar.
Cutman Lenny de Jesus, a Puerto Rican living in New York, will be called to climb the ring in case Pacquiao gets cut.
“But I don?t see any problem. This is going to be easy for Manny,” said De Jesus at the lobby of the MGM Grand just before midnight.
Tasked to maintain order on top of the ring is Joe Cortez, who will be officiating his 130th world title fight. Cortez, originally from Puerto Rico, was also the third man on the ring when Pacquiao fought Juan Manuel Marquez last year.
The three judges at ringside, all from Las Vegas, are Chuck Giampa, Dave Morreti and Paul Smith.
As of late Friday, Pacquiao remained the favorite and it is expected that the odds would no longer change until the closing of the betting line.
The newly-installed Sportsbook at the MGM Grand listed Pacquiao as 135 and Morales +115, meaning a wager of $135 for Pacquiao will win $100, and a bet of $100 for Morales will win $115.
Several hours earlier, Pacquiao, clad only in black boxers shorts tipped the scales at 129 ? lbs to the delight of a boisterous Filipino gallery. When it was announced that he had made the weight, Pacquiao flexed his muscles and snarled at the proMorales fans like what he did in November 2003 when he fought Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio, Texas.
Morales, looking frail and his stomach paling in comparison to the sixpack that protruded from Pacquiao?s abdomen, barely made the weight and scaled in at 130 lbs.
The Mexican had to shed off every little thing he had and when he weighed in, a black cloth measuring 2×5 meters had to be placed in front of the scales by members of his entourage.
Roach said Morales was almost one pound over thirty minutes before the official weighing and that when he finally took his turn to be weighed, Roach said Morales looked very weak.
The show of support for Pacquiao continued to flow until the late hours of Friday with people who played major contributions to his career expressing their full backing.
Pacquiao?s first manager, Polding Correa, who planed in Thursday night from Manila, only had kind words for his former ward.
“I told him to fight not only for himself but for the entire nation,” said Correa, who handled the daredevil slugger from 1995 to 1999.
Cheering for Pacquiao?s every move would be the two groups slugging it out for the control of the boxer?s managerial affairs.
Rod Nazario and promoter Murad Muhammad beef up the “old team” while Shelly Finkel leads the other camp that also has two American lawyers.
Two other world title fights are on tap with former light-fly king Jorge Arce of Mexico and Hussein Hussein of Australia squaring off for the interim World Boxing Council fly throne and Martin Castillo of Mexico staking the World Boxing Association super-fly diadem versus ex-WBA fly boss Eric Morel of Puerto Rico.
Two Filipinos are seeing action in an eight-round super-flyweight duel curtain-raiser and they are Cebu-bred Z Gorres and Los Angeles-based Glenn Donaire. An eight-round special attraction features Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who was widely applauded when he made his entrance during the weighing.
Sidelights: Lani Misalucha, who has been performing here the last couple of years, has been invited to make a powerful rendition of the Philippine national anthem, while Mario Delgado, a recording star in Mexico, will sing the Mexican anthem?Fight shirts (white or black) are selling like hotcakes here at $20 each. Long-sleeved ones are priced higher at $30. A cap is also priced at $20, while a souvenir program is pegged also at $20?Hours after the official weighing, the lobby of the MGM Grand looked as though a convention involving Filipinos was being held. There were Filipinos who came from Manila as well as Filipinos living in the US and as far as Canada milling around with members of Team Pacquiao.
