LOS ANGELES-A scheme reportedly hatched by the opposite camp would require Manny Pacquiao to wear a different brand of gloves and not the puncher’s gloves that the Filipino has always used in the past.
When Pacquiao faces Erik Morales in this year’s most awaited pay-per-view match-up on March 19 at the MGM Grand, the new handlers of Pacquiao will make sure that the Cleto Reyes brand be used by the rapid-firing, power-punching General Santos native.
Previously, it was reported that someone from the camp of Pacquiao signed for him requiring him to wear the Winning brand of gloves before the new managers objected and will make sure that the mistake be corrected.
“Manny has been wearing Cleto Reyes ever since,” said trainer Freddie Roach, knowing that the Mexican pair of gloves are tailor-made for a kind of boxer like the fast-fisted Pacquiao.
Team Pacquiao almost fell into a stalemate as business manager Rod Nazario asked Pacquiao to try on and get the feel of the padded, softer Winning gloves, the brand preferred and chosen by Morales. He apparently changed his mind when informed about the pros and cons and the slight advantages of wearing other brands.
Pacquiao, who has prepared long and hard for this fight, said that it did not matter to him if he wore Winning or Cleto Reyes. In the past, the Cleto Reyes brand was used by Pacquiao to knock out Marco Antonio Barrera, Jorge Julio, Lehlo Ledwaba and Emmanuel Lucero. He also knocked down Juan Manuel Marquez thrice in the first round, en route to a controversial draw.
“Walang problema sa akin, kahit ano pa ang ipasuot nila,” said Pacquiao. “Wala tayong kaba-kaba.” He was, however, told by Roach and cutman Lenny de Jesus that the Cleto Reyes brand is the most suitable pair for him.
“One good punch by Pacquiao will break ribs,” said de Jesus, a veteran cutman who has worked in the corner of some of the best boxers in the past.
Lawyers Keith Davidson and Nick Khan, co-managers of Pacquiao, will seek to overturn the previous agreement and they are quite positive that they will win their case.
“If it were a championship match, the champion could have dictated what kind of gloves both boxers will wear,” said Roach.
The Pacquiao-Morales duel is a non-title fight but interest to this battle has caught the attention of the whole boxing world.
The fight will be beamed live in several other countries while some 500 journalists coming from mainland America, England, Argentina, Japan and the Americas among others, will be flying to Las Vegas to cover the event.
