LAS VEGAS – They’re both of the same size and shape, but it was the Mexican-made Cleto Reyes that prevailed Saturday night over the Japanese brand Winning at the Thomas and Mack Center.
Clad in his favorite brand of gloves, Cleto Reyes, Manny Pacquiao destroyed Erik Morales in impressive fashion that trainer Freddie Roach’s feeling that the gloves may have cost the Filipino the first fight now holds water.
“Now we are using men’s gloves,” said Roach, referring to the Reyes brand that has come to be known in the fight game as the “puncher’s gloves” because of the thin padding on the knuckle area.
In their first fight which Morales won by unanimous but close decision, Pacquiao had no choice but to wear Winning as it was agreed upon in the contract signed by then promoter Murad Muhammad with Arum’s promotional group Top Rank Inc.
Roach said the Winning brand has thicker padding on the knuckle area as its main purpose is to protect the hands.
