In a bid to stop his detractors, Mexican icon Erik Morales stepped on the scales yesterday in Mexico City and easily hurdled the mandated 30-day weigh-in as he prepares for his biggest battle against Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao Nov. 18 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Morales, a three-time world champion, came in at a trim 142 pounds, just a pound under the maximum 143 allowed by the World Boxing Council, which requires fighters not to weigh more than 10 percent of the regulatory weight 30 days before the fight.
Pacquiao, who is training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles under trainer Freddie Roach, is now down to 135 pounds according to reports Thursday and is expected to easily make the 130 limit during the official weigh-in.
Morales and Pacquiao duke it out for the WBC International super featherweight title for the third time in a clash dubbed the “Grand Finale” after splitting their first two encounters.
After the weigh-in, Morales took part in a press conference arranged by Top Rank’s Bob Arum, where he declared that he felt “unbelievably strong” following his stint at the Velocity Sports Performance and under the watchful eyes of his father Jose at the Otomi mountains, which is located north of Mexico City. Meanwhile, Top Rank announced that over 10,000 tickets have been sold for the fight.
