Manny Pacquiao says he has whipped old distractions, but Erik Morales says he won’t be fooled by diversions that he sees as psychological feints in the buildup to their rematch Saturday at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.
“Head games,” Morales said in a conference call from his training camp in Mexico.
Pacquiao is confident he can reverse a loss last March to Morales in a 130-pound bout because of stable management and a brand of gloves he says augments his power. advertisement
“None of the distractions from the last fight over rooms, tickets and gloves,” said Pacquiao, a Filipino hero who had planned to train in Phoenix to avoid the distracting crush of adoring countrymen, but decided to stay at trainer Freddie Roach’s gym in Los Angeles instead. “I can train in peace, knowing my team is looking out for me.”
Pacquiao, who has Shelly Finkel and Gary Shaw in his management corner instead of the long-winded Murad Muhammad, almost talks as if the gloves will be decisive. He was forced in March to wear the Winning brand, because of an agreement struck by Muhammad in negotiations. This time, his dangerous hands will be back in a pair of Reyes, a Mexican brand favored by power punchers.
“Pillows,” Roach said of the Winning pair, although they were hard enough for Morales to do some real damage in March.
Ironically, it was a different kind of head game after the opening bell in the first bout that might have been decisive. In the fifth round, Pacquiao suffered a bad cut over one eye. It wasn’t clear whether it was from a head butt or Morales’ punch. Perhaps both. Whatever it was, there is speculation that the decision might have gone Pacquiao’s way if the blood had not obscured his vision.
Ceremony today
Michael Carbajal’s induction to the International Boxing Hall of Fame won’t happen until June 11, but the retired Phoenix junior flyweight will be inducted to Arizona’s Hall today at Central Boxing.
Carbajal, whose election to the International Hall was announced last week, will have his portrait placed above the entrance to the old gym on the south side of west Van Buren Street, near 17th Avenue. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. and will include a presentation by Las Vegas-based Top Rank, Carbajal’s original promoter.
Briefs
Promise for a bullish 2006 is already falling apart with a Zab Judah loss that dashed chances at a welterweight showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr., stalled negotiations for a Jermain Taylor-Winky Wright clash for the middleweight title and news Friday that lightweight and former Phoenix boxer Diego Corrales won’t fight Jose Luis Castillo on Feb. 4 for a third time because of a rib injury.
• There are no enemies in boxing. There are only future allies. To wit: Lawyer Judd Burstein is going to work for Don King. Burstein once called King “a cancer.” King called Burstein “an insidious insect.”
