All fingers point to a rematch between Ring Magazine champion Manny Pacquiao and Mexican legend Erik ?El Terrible? Morales.
Boxing fans, aficionados and even Web sites all over the world are clamoring for an encore of the March 19 showdown between two of the planet?s best fighters ? Pacquiao and Morales ? who fashioned out a bloody, 12-round unanimous decision over the Filipino ring gladiator.
If luck holds, a trilogy, similar to the one by Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, may also be in the offing.
And it looks like the promoters are heeding everyone?s call.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, who promoted the fight with Murad Muhammad, said that Pacquiao won the hearts of boxing fans all over the world with his gallant stand and said the performance of the flamboyant Filipino earned him the right to a rematch, probably in September.
?I would advise Pacquiao to get his eye treated, take a rest and then perhaps we could talk about a rematch even later this year,? Arum said, hinting that a trilogy similar to that between Morales and Barrera was ?quite possible.?
Oleg Bershadsky of the Web site Bragging Rights Corner, agrees.
He wrote: There were two points worth mentioning that may have affected the outcome or at least make us entertain the possibility that the fight could have gone differently. First, it is the cut above Pacquiao?s right eye that he received from a head-butt in Round 5. In his post-fight interview, Manny claimed that as a result of the head-butt, he was unable to see out of his right eye during most of the fight. Second was the controversy regarding the gloves used for this fight, which were selected by the Morales camp and were not the gloves Pacquiao normally uses. When asked if he believes the gloves made a difference, Pacquiao replied that with his usual gloves he would have knocked Morales out. Now we do not know whether the result of the fight would have been different and I suspect it wouldn?t have been if these two events did not occur. In any case, these two points of contention make the possibility of a rematch that is much more exciting.
?I?m ready for a rematch, anytime, anywhere,? said Pacquiao in an interview with a local TV channel.
In that fateful match with Morales, Pacquiao started off well and took the opening round with some stiff jabs and a couple of combinations. But Morales quickly evened the score by taking the second round using his reach to advantage.
The Filipino charged back to take the third round when a head-butt opened a gash over his right eye, which began to bother him even more as the fight wore on.
Morales, finding the range and moving well, caught Pacquiao with a solid uppercut and snapped his head back in the fifth round with a right and began to take charge but the ?Pac-Man? grit his teeth and weathered the storm to launch his own counterattack to seize the initiative in Round 9, when he hurt Morales with a couple of stinging body shots.
With the Mexican in seeming control of the fight in Rounds 10 and 11, Pacquiao?s only hope was a knockout.
Realizing he was behind on points, Pacquiao launched a furious attack and had Morales reeling backwards and obviously hurt.
