LAS VEGAS ? There?s no turning back for Manny Pacquiao?s stab at immortality on Saturday night when he aims to become the first Filipino to capture world titles in three different weight categories.
“This is it,” Pacquiao said on Tuesday night while playing host to a group of well-wishers packed inside his suite at the Mandalay Bay. “I am ready to go.”
Pacquiao appeared relaxed and confident with just a few days left before the big night.
This appearance contrasts sharply to the way he behaved in previous fights when he was cranky and moody mainly because he was battling to make the weight.
“I can even eat whatever I want just like now I just had a dinner of fried fish and chicken tinola and rice,” said Pacquiao, who is expected to have no trouble making the weight on Friday when the official weigh-in is held.
“I am not reducing weight. I will make the weight limit (of 130 lbs) by way of hard work and training,” he told a group of media men who sought him for a brief interview.
If Pacquiao wins against Juan Manuel Marquez, he will officially become the first Filipino three-division world champion after having reigned as World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight (112 lbs) and International Boxing Federation superbantam (122 lbs) champion.
Marquez?s super-feather (130 lbs) diadem will be on the line this weekend. If he wins, Pacquiao will also become the fifth Filipino world champion and fifth Filipino left-hander to get the job done in the same category. Flash Elorde, Rene Barrientos, Ben Villaflor and Rolando Navarrete, all southpaws, were former world 130-lb champions.
Last Saturday ? or exactly a week before fight ? Pacquiao weighed 133 lbs and his team sees it as a sign that there would be no problem making the 130-lb limit on Friday.
“Around this time during the second (Marco Antonio) Barrera fight, Manny was hot-headed because he was having a hard time getting down to 130,” said one member of Pacquiao?s training team who recalled the situation then.
“But now, he is so relaxed and is always horsing around as if he had already made the weight,” he said.
On Wednesday and Thursday, Pacquiao will do a light workout.
“I will still eat what I want in moderation but on Thursday I will cut down on my food intake,” Pacquiao said.
His handlers believe Pacquiao would tip the scales on fight night at 143 to 145 lbs. after catching up on his food intake after the weigh-in, a normal practice among boxers except in the heavyweight division.
