There will be no birthday or Christmas celebrations for Manny Pacquiao. Only an honest-to-goodness training for what could be the defining moment of his boxing career.
Pacquiao has stepped up his preparations for his keenly-awaited rematch with former three-time world champion Erik Morales on Jan. 21 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, vowing to avenge his loss to the Mexican fighter early this year.
Although the Filipino southpaw has recovered from that bitter defeat with a sweet victory over Hector Velazquez last September, the setback to Morales still hounds Pacquiao to this day.
In fact, he took exception to the latest tirades of his rival’s camp, telling his trainer Freddie Roach and promoter Gary Shaw “not to make excuses for his loss (to Morales) last March 19” and for Pacquiao to “accept defeat like a man.”
“I am angry over what they said. I admit I lost,” said Pacquiao in an interview with Viva Sports.
However, Pacquiao said it was not the same Manny Pacquiao when he fought Morales the first time, adding: “I was not one 100 percent. I took him lightly. I need to change some things.”
This time around, Pacquiao said he will have no distractions and will not celebrate his birthday on Dec. 17 or even Christmas, saying “I want to have a total celebration on Jan. 21” after the fight with Morales.
“I will bet my life that I will win,” Pacquiao said.
Told that the Las Vegas odds had him as a favorite, Pacquiao shrugged it off, saying: “I don’t worry about the odds. I’m just focused on the fight. I trained for two weeks in Cebu but this (Wild Card gym in LA) is where my heavy training is. I will not predict in which round he will fall. But I will do all I can in the ring, knockout or not.”
Team Pacquiao had repeatedly claimed that distractions outside the ring cost Pacquiao the fight, including the quarrel over the gloves, ticket allocations, room assignments and a bitter difference with former promoter Murad Muhammad. This angered the Morales camp, which claimed Morales beat Pacquiao the first time and he will do it again.
