The Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales duel will not just be about two excellent athletes, it will be about arguably the two biggest attractions in boxing.
That is why the March 19 fight, although no belts at are at stake, promises to bring the action to the fans, and the revenue to whoever is behind making the fight possible.
?Erik?s last fight with Barrera did three times the amount of buys as the heavyweight champion of the world Vitali Klitschko and Danny Williams,? Top Rank President Todd DuBoef said in an interview with www.boxingscene.com during the fight promotion in Mexico.
?The fight before that, against Carlos Hernandez in the unification bout, did one and a half times more. So the message is that Erik is really the heavyweight of the world as regards an attraction.?
And Pacquiao isn?t occupying a less billing come March.
Acknowledging his drawing power, Top Rank brought Pacquiao to Mexico Thursday to endorse the fight?the Filipino?s third straight against a Mexican.
?This is so very important for me, because it?s for the honor of my country, my family, and I know Erik Morales is a very good boxer,? the same website reported Pacquiao as saying.
?Winning this fight is my way to be known as a great warrior throughout the world, especially with the Mexican people and the people in the United States.?
?I know who I am, and what I can do in the ring and I?m going to prepare well for a truly great fight,? Morales countered. ?I?m starting my altitude training at the Otomi Center [here in Mexico] on Monday. I?m not scared, I?m going to be ready and I?m going to win!?
Pacquiao, a former superbantamweight and flyweight champion, who is typically modest in interviews compared with other fighters, also said: ?I?m not going to say I?m going to knock Erik out. But I?m going to try my very best, show the benefits of my homework and good skill up in the ring. ?
?I want everybody to love this fight.?
And Pacquiao, along with his handlers and fight promoters, certainly do.
Besides the Filipino?s first appearance on pay-per-view television, Pacquiao, who has attracted a cult following in North America, also graced the cover of KO Magazine?s February 2005 issue, the first Oriental boxer to do so.
He is installed as a favorite by Las Vegas bookmakers, only the second time Pacquiao wasn?t an underdog going into a US-based bout.
Pacquiao was supposed initially to meet Juan Manuel Marquez instead of Morales.
But Marquez?s insistence to raise his prize money, coupled with his relative lack of drawing power, led to the collapse of his impending rematch with Pacquiao.
The first time Pacquiao and Marquez met, Pacquiao was also the favorite.
?I think that the money that was being offered by HBO for Pacquiao-Marquez, while substantial, wasn?t enough to make that fight, to satisfy the fighters,? explained Top Rank?s Bob Arum in a separate ruport.
?That got us to thinking that the bigger fight was clearly Morales-Pacquiao and that fight was bigger because it was a pay-per-view fight.?
