(REMOTE: Manny Pacquiao was pissed off, the exact words used by Nick Giongco of the Bulletin, upon learning yesterday that reporters were still in danger of being dumped into the far-off upper level section for their job to cover the July 2 blockbuster at the Big Dome. While it?s been a necessity for sportswriters to be clinically close to live action, the call of the day has been for binoculars. Which raises the suspicion that the main man in charge of media seat assignments, a quacking, uptight, crop-headed former reporter, has entered into the business of selling powerful bifocals.)
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BEFORE Mexico?s Oscar Larios could bare his taut torso and step into the ring on Sunday, there were still two chances he could upset Manny Pacquiao and fully restore gladness about boxing in his country.
That chance has been reduced to one, only one.
The danger of Larios spearing Pacquiao with a chisel-sharp right straight to the chin, for a possible stoppage in the first half of the fight, has been greatly diminished.
At least, that was how it appeared after the public baring of the worth and might of both fighters for their July 2 Mano a Mano at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Larios had suspiciously refused to spar in public in the press preview that was meant to allow a peep into the fighter?s arsenal.
He could be hiding something, or he had nothing really dangerous to show.
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But that?s beside the point.
All Pacquiao had to do was routine gym work — spar, punch the mitts, shadow-box — to send the message it would be Larios who would be in great danger of crashing against the wall come Sunday noon at the Big Dome.
Pacquiao, in the process, displayed how it would be impossible to tag him with a clean shot to the chin, the sort that had floored Pacman at least three times before he could assume full stardom.
The other day, Larios?s handlers were overheard as saying they would exploit a secret Pacquiao weakness. It?s odd, but the Mexicans referred to a looseness spotted during Pacquiao?s fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.
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Let?s see. Pacquiao fought Marquez, whom he floored three times in the first round en route to a controversial draw, in May 2004 yet.
Larios handlers were clearly deluding themselves if they believed those old chinks in the Pacquiao armor would resurface inside the ring on Sunday.
If he hopes to frustrate the whole Filipino nation, Larios should work out a fight plan against the Pacquiao that had shamed and stopped his countryman, Erik Morales, earlier this year.
Sorry to inform the Larios camp, but they should prepare for a fully transformed warrior.
Pacquiao has henceforth metamorphosed into a complete fighter, who has shunned the old balled-up style that had made him an easy prey to sharp counter-punchers, like Marquez and Morales.
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Of course, there?s one last chance for Larios to trip Pacquiao.
This one won?t be easy, but Larios could try his desperate best to survive the expected early bombardment.
Larios did not look as though he had the required balance and solid rib railing for the tough job of pushing the fight close to the distance.
But if he succeeds in, say, staying on his feet in one piece until the seventh or eighth round, things could start to tilt in his favor.
Yes, Pacquiao, left with a shortened preparation period, could start losing steam by this time.
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Pacquiao is, indeed, reporting to the fight like a multi-geared, perfectly primed-up race machine.
But, based on unavoidable limitations, it?s an engine that could prove perfect only for dashes to a quick finish.
This should not be told at all, but conditioning coach Justine Fortune had confided to one media man back at Wild Card (in Hollywood) that Pacquiao?s cardiovascular condition was only 80 percent fine when he left for Manila for the Larios fight.
Pacquiao, strong and sharp, cannot be expected to show up with a full tank on Sunday.
Larios should take it from there — if he has not crashed into the tragic dead-end yet.
