THE MAJORITY of Filipinos are upbeat about Manny Pacquiao’s chances against Erik Morales despite being the 10-8 underdog in oddsmakers’ books in their Jan. 21 rematch at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
One boxing expert, for example, feels that if Morales has had difficulty achieving the required weight, “he won’t be at a hundred percent going into the fight and will be knocked out within six rounds. On the other hand, Manny is focused and well-prepared.”
Another factor going against Morales, according to the expert, is that he trained in a new camp under a new trainer.
“The changes might not serve him well. Morales can’t get any better than how he fought in the first fight, but Manny can do much, much more,” said the expert.
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For Peter Chanliong, chief operating officer of Solar Entertainment Corp., which will air the fight here in the Philippines, the bout will be tightly fought from start to finish.
By “finish,” Peter means the ninth round where he sees Manny winning by technical knockout.
“I predict it is going to be a very close fight,” said Peter, who flies to Las Vegas this Friday to witness the rematch live.
The fight will be shown live at the cinemas of SM Department Stores (Mega Mall, North Edsa, Cebu, Manila, Fairview and South Mall) and Rockwell.
According to Jude Turcuato, Solar VP for marketing, SM will sell tickets at P300, and Rockwell at P500.
Airing starts at 8 a.m., Jude said, for the undercards and a bout that features Filipino Jimrex Jaca.
Indeed, everything looked hunky-dory for Pacquiao until boxing researcher Teddy Reynoso came up with this damper: Based on his research, Teddy said January is not a good month for Filipino boxers, especially if the match is held abroad.
“Of the five world title fights involving Pinoys [Filipinos] held in January, all but one lost to foreign foes. December is a more favorable month, with seven out of eight Pinoys winning world title fights, among them Pacquiao, Luisito Espinosa, Pedro Adigue, Erbito Salavarria and Dodie Boy Pe?alosa,” Teddy reported.
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Getting hold of a confidential report that says Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Noli Eala had invited basketball stakeholders and Basketball Association of the Philippines president Joey Lina to a meeting, I immediately texted Noli to find out what was cooking.
To start with, Noli said the report was only half true. Not all the stakeholders were invited. The meeting was only among Lina, Philippine Basketball League commissioner Chino Trinidad and himself.
And what did they talk about?
“We’re still discussing the options and studying the precedents,” was all Noli would say. I take it that these discussions will be a continuing activity, since Noli said he expects the group to come up with something more concrete next week.
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A toast to the PBA’s man-of-the-hour Bo Perasol, head coach of giant killer Air21 whose name I can now spell correctly.
Having beaten the strongest PBA teams this conference, Bo was the main topic of conversation in last Saturday’s two-hour “Usapang Sports” program over radio dzME.
Studio guests and callers said Bo has proven that his ball club’s “field all 12 players” philosophy, which other coaches found unworkable, can be implemented with good results.
They also said that the Express’ reversal of fortunes can be attributed to a much stronger lineup this season, and the vast improvement of new acquisition Yancy de Ocampo, thanks to a basketball scholarship in Florida, compliments of his former team Talk ‘N Text.
And, of course, they said there’s the dynamic and youthful coaching staff headed by PBA rookie Bo to give credit to.
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Bo admitted there were times when he fielded in less than 12 players, as observed by scribes covering the PBA.
“But these were times when a player was either injured, sick or suspended,” he explained.
Bo said the mere thought that his team was able to equalize the series versus Talk ‘N Text — and before that, eliminate San Miguel Beer — makes him feel great.
