Saturday’s rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales is professional prize fighting at its best. They are icons in their respective countries, power punchers, warriors and highly skilled boxers. And they’ve fought before, so we know what to expect.
In short, this is a guaranteed fight of the year candidate.
The last bout was a competitive and exciting fight, with both fighters having their moments. Morales controlled the majority of the action, and deserved a clear decision, but the power punching Filipino fought back throughout giving the Mexican all he could handle. Pacquiao was the favourite last time, and is again the fighter tipped to take the decision. The reason being; Morales had lost his previous fights going in to the bouts. In both cases, Pacquiao has been considered the fresher fighter, facing a slightly faded Morales at the tail end of his career.
Previous to the first fight, Morales has lost clearly to bitter rival Marco Antonio Barrera. It was a fight he had been expected to win (given Barrera’s loss to Pacquiao), but an ill prepared Morales was out fought by Barrera’s precise counterpunching.
Going into the first Pacquiao fight was a must win for the Tijuana native, as his position as an elite fighter was at stake. Morales was immensely focused, and completely unafraid of the Filipino’s much vaunted power punching. Morales dominated with his jab, and forced Pacquiao onto the back foot, landing good right uppercuts whenever Pacquiao attempted to come in.
It seemed that Morales was simply the better fighter, the more intelligent and the more resourceful. For everything Pacquiao tried, Morales came back with something, fighting on his terms and at his pace.
There were issues about the gloves used (Pacquiao preferring to use the punchers gloves, Reyes, and Morales opting for the more defensive Winnning), and there were some background issues that may have affected Pacquiao’s preparation (a promotional dispute with Murad Muhhamed, and severe blistering on his feet). However, as Pacquiao’s trainer Freddy Roach revealed, due to his perceived slippage, they probably took Morales lightly.
Morales is again coming off a loss, this time to unknown Zahir Raheem at 135lbs. It was a supposed to be a routine warm up bout for the rematch with Paquiao, but Raheem had evidently not read the script. Morales was out boxed and out slicked for much of the fight, and was clearly not comfortable at the new weight category. Not to let such small an issue get in the way of a mega fight, the loss was swept under the carpet, and the rematch made for January 21st, 2006.
Given ‘El Terribles’ performances after losing, it is highly doubtful that Pacquiao will take him lightly this time around. Gone are the hoards of Filipinos and followers at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, and gone are the business distractions that led attentions away from the fight at hand. With the assumption that Morales has trained like a mad man for this fight, so has Team Pacquiao, closing the gym down for training, and limiting his exposure to nosey journalists and fans alike.
For this fight, Morales has been training with Reyes gloves, and Pacquiao with Winning. They will both switch on fight night, but this is testimony to how seriously they take this bout. Freddy Roach has stated that this is “Make or break for both guys. The winner gets Barrera, and the loser gets nothing”.
So we can expect two fully focused fighters, hungry to correct past performances and desperate to secure their status. Who then, will be victorious?
For either fighter to win, they must make the other back up. Pacquiao does not like fighting on the back foot, and Morales will have difficulties with Manny’s darting rapid-fire, power punching.
If Morales allows Pacquiao to set himself, he could be in for a hard night as Pacquiao will come in all night, utilising his improved head movement and foot speed to get in. Roach has worked extensively head movement and Manny’s southpaw jab, and wants to get inside to work the body. If they can set the pace, nullify Morales’ jab, then the Pac Man’s speed may prove a problem for Morales.
Morales must essentially stick to the game plan from the first fight. He can keep Pacquiao at bay with his long jab, offset his balance and force him onto the back foot. Morales is the physically bigger man, and he must use his size to bully Pacquiao when they get in close. He must keep Pacquiao thinking to prevent the multi angled attacks, and use lateral movement to nullify the Filipino’s in-and-out darting.
There is no doubt that the Mexican is the more versatile fighter. He can do more things, and win in more ways than Pacquiao can. But Pacquiao is so dangerous, because what he does do, he does extremely well. He hits incredibly hard, and he moves incredibly quickly. And he can do it all night long if required.
Morales may also have problems making 130lbs, so he may not be quite at his peak. This fight should be closer than the first one, with Pacquiao forcing the issue more than he did last time. Morales may be able to out box Pacquiao for some of the rounds, but the Filipino should have some very good moments when he gets in close.
We can be fairly sure that neither fighter will get knocked out, but other than that, it’s too close to call.
