On March 19, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas will host Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Enough said.
Although Morales is coming off a loss to Marco Antonio Barrera last November, he will jump back in the ring with arguably the most popular fighter in boxing.
Pacquiao has jumped at this matchup since Juan Manuel Marquez priced himself out of the Feb. 19 scheduled clash. Marquez was offered 700,000 and he wanted 1.5 million. Pac Man himself was only going to make 900,000 much less than the 1.5 purse JMM requested.
Now, the big question? Who will win this megafight?
Honestly, I can’t see Morales coming out on top of the man who destroyed Barrera. However ” El Terrible” has a couple of things in his favor. One he has never lost to anyone not named Barrera. Two, he has fought three fights at junior lightweight to Pacquiao’s none.
Pacquiao destroyed the man that just beat Morales and I believe he will stop Morales for the first time in the Mexican star’s career. Pac Man’s straight left could very well be the most lethal punch in boxing pound-for-pound. It will be interesting how Morales approaches this matchup. Will he brawl with Pac Man? If he does Morales might end up looking like one of the ghosts Pac Man devours on the video game.
Morales will have to box Pacquiao more than he is used to and there lies his dilemma. El Terrible has never seen a combination of power and speed like he will see March 19. He will have to box and slug with complete precision to stand a chance. That’s why I like Pacquiao by KO in the eighth.
However remember all of us who counted out Barrera saying that Morales will handle him easily? In boxing nothing is a sure thing.
