EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST PREDICTS MORALES WIN

Exercise physiologist Jorgen Persson has predicted that legendary Mexican Erik “El Terrible” Morales will be “ready, marvelously conditioned and bursting with strength, power plus energy” within the super featherweight limit of 130 pounds and will defeat Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao for the second time in three meetings.

In a dispatch to Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, well-known boxing writer James Blears of the widely-read website boxingscene.com said Persson who is “meticulously supervising” Morales’ weight loss combined with what he referred to as “a strength retention process” took Pacquiao’s celebrated trainer Freddie Roach to task for simplistically likening the Grand Finale rubber match to Rocky Balboa versus Ivan Drago.

Persson who is working with Morales at the Otomi high altitude training center said Roach’s images are as colorful as the story “but the negative comparison between traditional boxing conditioning and contemporary science is sadly black and white and possibly detrimental to the future of boxing as a growing and developing sport.”

Taking a dig at Roach, Persson said he has found that “many successful boxers actually respect science more than many well-meaning traditional coaches do.

Persson said the “improved difference you will see on November 18 is a direct result of an intelligent sponsor (Top Rank who handles Morales) caring coaches and a great boxer thinking ahead by embracing traditional know-how and progressive conditioning science.”