The trainer of Manny Pacquiao has a special diet for Erik Morales.
But it’s something the Mexican may not like because, as Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach puts it, Morales may no longer be able to eat after it’s over.
“It’s a steady diet of (Cleto) Reyes leather (gloves) all night long until he (Morales) can eat no more” said Roach in a recent interview as he described the likely outcome of the 12-round super-featherweight clash on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas.
Talk of diet was foremost in the minds of Roach’s camp as they belittled the efforts of Morales to make the 130-lb limit by going to the extreme of hiring expert dietitians and nutritionists and undergoing a training program unlike anything he had done before.
“My goodness. I have never seen so many people surround one man to make sure he eats so little,” Roach told ace publicist Fred Sternburg from his training camp at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.
“That was no weigh-in, it was a Weight Watchers meeting. I don’t know what Velocity (Sports Performance) has on its menu.”
A few days after Morales barely made the grade set by the World Boxing Council, Pacquiao registered 138 ? lbs at the Wild Card with the Filipino lefty wearing his sweaty trunks and pair of boxing shoes.
Oddsmakers have installed Pacquiao as the heavy favorite in the bout dubbed “The Grand Finale” which offers a prime seat at 19,000-seat venue at a whoping $ 500 per (about P25,000). Minimum entry fee is $ 50. (about P2,500).
Tickets are selling briskly that some noted Filipino boxing personalities have started buying theirs and booking hotel rooms in anticipation of a sell-out.
One of them is Ramon Lainez, who produces the weekly boxing TV show In This Corner, which has purchased fight tickets and booked hotel rooms.
“I don’t want to take risks,” said Lainez, who was at ringside when Pacquiao fought the late Agapito Sanchez, Emmanuel Lucero, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Morales (first fight).
“I am not travelling thousands of miles to see the fight on closed-circuit or on pay-per-view. I want to see it live. I have been told that some people are already starting to get difficulties booking hotels and getting tickets,” added Lainez, who will be accompanied by another TV boxing man, Gerry Garcia.
Rooms at Wynn Las Vegas, where Pacquiao will hold court beginning Nov. 14, are one of the priciest in all of Vegas with the standard rooms penciled at $ 260 a night during weekdays.
Lainez and Garcia are still involved heavily in coming out with shows on TV in coordination with Pacquiao’s former business manager Rod Nazario, who is recovering from an ailment.
