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Philippines, 18 Nov 2024 |
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THE PACMAN HYPE By Homer Sayson, Sun.Star Cebu PhilBoxing.com Sat, 21 Jan 2006 LAS VEGAS -- When he arrived last Monday at the Wynn Resort for his epic rematch with Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao brought with him the plangent sounds of hype. Ever flamboyant, PacMan stepped out of a fancy $65,000 Porsche Cayene which he recently bought in Hollywood. Manny was accompanied by an entourage the size of a Sinulog contingent. Morales' arrival, meanwhile, was quiet as a sleeping brook. He descended from a gleaming SUV, followed only by another SUV. A head count of the Morales group did not exceed six, and they all shut their mouth. When Manny Pacquiao entered the Mouton Ballroom for the final pre-fight press conference the other day, the GenSan brawler was decked in a Team Pacquiao outfit of sweat pants and windbreaker. He wore a Tar Heel cap and as he took over the microphone for a short speech, Manny was funny and amusingly loquacious. Erik Morales, meanwhile, was all business. He was attired like someone who was about to attend Sunday morning mass. He wore a pair of brown suede pants and a white long-sleeve shirt was tucked neatly beneath his brown sweater. Erik didn't say much, but he silenced the pro-Filipino crowd when he told a transltor: "I'm in the best shape of my life." The contrast between Pacquiao and Morales is as discernible as night and day. Manny is engaging, Erik is impossibly shy. Manny likes to gamble, Erik would rather tickle the strings of a guitar. Manny is comfortable with his celebrity, Erik burns under the spotlight. Yes, even in boxing, opposites do attract. And that is why Pacquiao versus Morales is an easy sell. It bleeds with so many storylines its a pay-per-view bargain at $44.95. At the end of the day, however, the only difference that will matter is this: Manny likes to brawl, Erik loves to stay from a distance and win a tactical fight. Whoever gets his way this Sunday wins this fight. Manny Pacquiao has more titles than the Queen of England. He is an actor, rapper, sex symbol, pool shark, cockfighting afficionado, product endorser, and philantrophist. His warts and all, Manny is genuinely a good kid. And so like the millions of other Pinoys I hope he beats the bejeebies out of Morales, makes more money than the Sultan of Brunei, and live happily ever after. But life isn't that easy. In Manny's case, there us a huge roadblock named Erik Morales. And it smells with a lot of dnager. Morales is likeable, too. He does a lot of the charity work that Manny is famous for, but shy as a shrinking violet, Erik's generosity isn't as well-chronicled as PacMan's. Inside the ropes, Erik's greatest asset against Pacquiao is the Mexican's length. At 5-foot-8, Morales stands an inch and a half taller than Manny. Erik has a reach of 72," a five-inch advantage over PacMan. It's not the length per se that frightens me about this fight. It's the fact that Morales knows how to use that advantage. In their intial slugfest last March 19 at the MGM Grand Garden for instance, Erik nailed Manny with 98 of 307 jabs, a mind-bending 31.9 percent accuracy clip. Will Manny finally have an answer to Morales' dreaded weapon? Can he bypass that jab as he seeks to engage? Will he have enough gas to last 12 rounds? I wish I knew the answers. But we're gonna find out this Sunday. Together. And with our fingers crossed. homsay@hotmail.com Click here to view a list of other articles written by Homer Sayson, Sun.Star Cebu.  |
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