FIVE DAYS after registering 142 pounds, Erik Morales rode the scales and weighed an amazing 137 lb.
This was how Top Rank bossman Bob Arum related the fantastic development to broadcaster Ronnie Nathanielsz last week.
Arum must’ve sounded as though he had discovered a constellation of reserved strength inside Morales’ aging body.
“Manny Pacquiao would be in for a big surprise,” Arum was quoted as warning.
Maybe Arum expected Pacquiao to shudder in fear?
Well, if Pacquiao did not end up laughing, he must’ve brushed off Arum’s statement as another fat lie.
Arum did not indicate if he had personally checked Morales on the scales.
* * *
The grand old man of prizefight promotions may not be bluffing. He could, in fact, be reporting what he had witnessed.
But it was easier to believe that Arum, this time out, had made Morales ride a shaky, sympathetic hotel room weighing machine.
Yes, if Morales had instantly lost five pounds in five days, he could be in for deeper trouble. It’s like this: Morales registering 137 on an official machine must instead be a cause for worry among his backers and close supporters who know their boxing.
* * *
No. Arum couldn’t be accused of deluding himself. He definitely knows his boxing, more than Don King.
But wasn’t Morales progressing normally, shedding poundage carefully and gradually, under the supervision of experts?
At least, this was what we were made to believe before Morales moved up to the Otomi Mountains training site in Mexico from his camp in Los Angeles.
* * *
Meanwhile, around the same time, Pacquiao jumped onto the scales and registered 138 lb — work shoes, shorts and shirt on.
Trainer Freddie Roach next claimed his prized pupil was easily 136 lb.
That would mean Morales was nothing more than a pound behind Pacquiao in the run-off to their Nov. 17 official weigh-in.
* * *
Now, there was every reason for Arum to be triumphant.
But, at the same time, he could be dangerously trapped in that mode when he had started to believe the Grand Finale would be decided on the weighing scales.
No kidding. This was not the first time this had been said of how fighters could also get overly assertive with their weight and figure.
In the process, these same fighters overlook the fact that making the weight and staying in fighting shape is not one and the same thing.
* * *
Listen, please. Arum could be perfectly happy only if Morales would be joining a beauty pageant, and not going to war, which promises to be the fiercest in his career.
So, did they have to punish Morales?
Five pounds in five days was not exactly normal, based on the announced Morales regimen.
Morales may indeed look great, he could breeze past the official scales, but how much of the old steady fighter would be left in his old, drained system?
* * *
To repeat, Morales won’t be joining a beauty contest.
Warned police superintendent Pat Pi?ol of North Cotabato: “Fine if it would be a beauty contest, Morales could just walk down the ramp after all the shedding and the trimming down. But it’s not. It would be a rumble in the jungle. Makikipag-bugbugan siya. Let’s see if he could survive Pacman.”
Supt. Pi?ol was right. Balance and propriety should have been the theme of the Morales regimen. No quick fix, no cutting corners, please.
Anyway, it was just fine for Arum to have warned Pacquiao to watch out — Morales would be sharper, stronger.
But did the Top Rank big boss sincerely believe the fierce fight would be decided on a silly weight war?
