MANNY Pacquiao, the punching machine from General Santos City, has left a trail of Mexican victims on his way to becoming a world boxing star. Gabriel Mira, Emmanuel Lucero, Hector Velazquez and two of the great Mexican warriors — Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera — tumbled one after the other as a result of the Filipino pug’s onslaught, with only Juan Manuel Marquez able to survive the raid when he hacked out a controversial draw with Pacquiao back in 2004.
Now comes Oscar Larios, another Mexican warrior who is ready to slug it out with Pacquiao in a super featherweight clash on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum. Will Larios become Pacquiao’s next Mexican victim?
Larios and the rest of the his entourage declared that’s not going to happen the moment they set foot on Philippine soil Sunday whey they planed in from Japan.
“We came here to win,” Rafael Mendoza, Larios’ business manager, told journalists during the public workout staged Monday morning for the two main protagonists in the card dubbed Mano-A-Mano.
Larios, a former world bantamweight champion, looked confident indeed days before the biggest fight of his life. During one of the television interviews, he even blurted out a Filipino dialect which means Pacquiao is going to lose come fight day.
Larios’ trainer, Edison Reynoso, said his boxer has adjusted well to the Philippine weather and should be in excellent shape the moment he enters the ring.
“We’re definitely looking for an upset,” Reynoso said. Larios displayed a little of his skills during the public workout, firing left-right combinations as he worked the mitts with Reynoso.
But, it was clear Larios was holding his punches in an obvious ploy to hide his warhead. He even refused to have a sparring session to the disappointment of the crowd in attendance.
But, while Larios was concealing his weapons, Pacquiao showed the kind of bombs he wound unleash against his Mexican opponent.
Pacquiao threw not one-two or just one-two-three but five-punch combinations against the mitts of Freddie Riach when it was his time to show his wares. He also did three rounds of sparring with Russian Rustam Nugaev that thrilled the crowd no end.
Roach said with Pacquiao’s superb condition, he sees no reason why the Filipino boxer will lose against the speedy Larios.
The camp of Pacquiao is oozing with confidence that it predicted a big knockout win for the Filipino boxer at the Big Dome come Sunday.
There’s no one but Larios himself who can prevent that from happening and avert a wild celebration in a country that is only united after each sports triumph.
Otherwise, Larios will become just another statistic in Pacquiao’s growing list of Mexican victims.
