Three weeks after his loss to Marco Antonio Barrera in their epic third encounter, Mexican Erik Morales said over the weekend that he wants to slug it out with Manny Pacquiao only the Filipino boxing hero is already booked to fight Juan Manuel Marquez in a rematch in February.
“I’d like to take on Manny Pacquiao,” said Morales in a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he was vacationing with his girlfriend Andrea Mora upon the invitation of cable channel Space.
“But I think he’s already set for Juan Manuel Marquez,” added Morales, who is likely to fight next between March and April at 130 lbs before going up to 135-lb division.
Pacquiao, who recently demolished IBF No. 6 featherweight Fahsan 3K Battery in four rounds at The Fort, is scheduled to fight Marquez on Feb. 26 for a purse of $900,000 or about P50 million.
Should he prevail, Pacquiao is being groomed to take on Morales on July 30 with US-based promoter Murad Muhammad vowing to talk to Morales’ handlers, led by Top Rank’s Bob Arum, for the staging of the fight worth $1,750,000 or P100 million.
Pacquiao, who turned 26 last week, is set to leave for the US in the last week of this month to step up his buildup for his keenly-awaited rematch with Marquez, whom he fought to a controversial split draw decision last May.
Noted American trainer Freddie Roach had asked Pacquiao to report for work at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles early January.
After disposing of Fahsan, Roach said he preferred the hard-hitting southpaw to start training for Pacquiao the day after Christmas since “Marquez will be more prepared for him in the rematch so we’ve got to be ready for war.”
Roach said the first thing he will do with Pacquiao is to review the tape of the fight against Marquez last May. Then, he said he will figure out a strategy to make sure of the outcome in the rematch
