Manny Pacquiao beats up Mexican fighters. Some might say it’s what he does best.
First he stopped Emmanuel Lucero, then he beat Marco Antonio Barrera, and last May he knocked down Juan Manuel Marquez three times in the first round, though it ended in a draw.
Mexican fighters dominate professional prizefighting with their aggressive, go-for-broke style, and the Filipino slugger Pacquiao is taking aim at them.
“I want to fight and beat all of the Mexican fighters,” Pacquiao said a few months ago at a press conference in Beverly Hills. “Mexican fans love knockouts. If I knock out all of their fighters, then they will like me.”
For Pacquiao (39-2-2, 31 KOs), who’s known as “Pac-man,” his next challenge is a doozy. He faces Erik “El Terrible” Morales (47-2, 34 KOs) tonight at the MGM Grand. The fight will be shown on HBO pay-per-view.
Pacquiao’s path is a difficult one, as past “Mexican stoppers” discovered.
Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, the so-called “Mexican assassin,” was the most recent. The speedy Washington, D. C. fighter dominated the flyweight division with victories over a number of high-profile Mexicans over a decade.
But after serving a prison sentence, he returned to find that new Mexican fighters, including Rafael Marquez and Ivan “Choko” Hernandez, had his number.
Roger “Black Mamba” Mayweather was another fighter who seemed to have a bead on Mexicans. Then he ran into Julio Cesar Chavez.
Naseem Hamed also attempted to reach that status, but Marco Antonio Barrera put the brakes on Hamed’s ascent by thoroughly out-boxing the electrifying Arab warrior.
Mexican fighters just keep coming. But Pacquiao is not just another fighter. With his left-handed stance, speedy footwork and combustible power, he’s a solid candidate to oppose the ultimate warrior Morales.
“Erik Morales has an advantage. He’s taller and has long arms,” Pacquiao said. “But I fight with the bigger guys and spar with them. I’m ready to face Morales.”
At the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Pacquiao recently ran through his training exercises like he’s paid for each punch he throws — he was a flurry of flashing fists. He’s hungry and it shows.
“Manny is one of a kind,” said Freddie Roach, who has trained numerous fighters. “He has a special kind of power.”
But so does Morales.
“I think Morales has power, too, but I believe in my power,” Pacquiao said. “But I can’t predict a knockout.”
Morales, who has defeated known sluggers, is equally cautious.
“We have to fight speed with speed,” he said by phone. “I’m still going to throw punches, but I’m going to throw them harder and faster than I usually do.”
Bob Arum, president of Top Rank promotions company, said it’s a test the boxing world wants to see.
“The public perceives both fighters as being warriors,” he said.
Morales’ goal is to be Mexico’s greatest warrior, so he promised, “I’ll be on top of my form. Believe me, it’s going to be a great fight.”
Pacquiao already is his country’s greatest hero.
“There’s a lot of pressure because I need to win every fight,” said Pacquiao, who has captured the flyweight and junior flyweight titles. “I have a lot of countrymen supporting me. They are praying for my success, so I need to win every fight.”
