BITTERSWEET NIGHT FOR ?PAC-MAN? FANS
At the end of 12 great rounds between two of the best fighters in the world in Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao, everyone in the audience was up on their feet and cheering. Everyone, except for myself and Rod Nazario, the man who handles Manny?s business matters (non-boxing Manager). Looking at each other, we knew the outcome before it was announced as Pacquiao didn?t get enough done to win! Later while walking around the arena, the general feeling seemed to be that history had been made and that both fighters gained more than they lost.
MORALES WON BY IMPOSING HIS WILL MORE
As I was holding the Philippine flag in the ring minutes prior to its start, I knew this was Top Rank country and he was not going to get a break, especially in a close fight. Watching the fight on tape, it came down to the 11th round. If you gave that 11th round to Morales, you had him winning 115-113. If it went to Pacquiao, you had it a Draw (114-114). All that said, there is no controversy here as Morales fought his fight and got the Unanimous Decision win.
ERIK WAS ABLE TO FIGHT ?HIS FIGHT? MORE
Much of the pre-fight talk was centered that Manny would hurt Morales often, maybe drop him, and that Morales would rebound in the middle of the fight to make it a classic. However, Manny didn?t drop Erik early and didn?t make Morales retreat similar to Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez. This had Pacquiao?s fans in shock as they didn?t know how to react. Usually when Pacquiao hits you, you go down and Erik Morales didn?t. So take the failed game plan of Pacquiao, and Morales? cool and calm attack, this only gave Morales an added edge.
HEADBUTT CERTAINLY A HINDERANCE!
There were only two times I stood up and yelled during the fight and both were not because of the action between the two great warriors. The first was when Referee Joe Cortez ruled that the cut on Pacquiao was caused by a punch, not a head butt. If Cortez didn?t know how the cut was caused, why didn?t he take realize that ?L? shaped bone deep cut was not caused by a boxing glove.
DISADVANTAGES ALL BEGINNING TO MOUNT
Pacquiao not only had the disadvantage in height, size, and big fight experience, he had to fight worrying about the possibility of losing on cuts. But Pacquiao is a warrior and won?t quit, even if he had a mini Vitali Klitschko (vs. Lennox Lewis) type of cut that may require Manny to sit out six months. Pacquiao admitted that he couldn?t see much, if at all from that eye and threw blind combos going in, not really knowing if or where they would land. Had the cut not happened, seeing how the fight was close and how much Morales dominated from rounds five to ten, only our imaginations can envision what the outcome could have been.
PACQUIAO WAS INDEED GRACIOUS IN DEFEAT
Manny knew why he lost; he said he didn?t finish Morales when he had him hurt in the middle rounds. Instead of seizing the initiative after hurting Morales bad with a body shot, he didn?t go back to the body and try to finish him. Pacquiao felt he had Erik going in the final round, and was upset there wasn?t enough time to register the comeback KO.
?PAC-MAN? FELT BOUT WAS ONE TO REMEMBER
Pacquiao was all smiles because he knew how historic this fight was. That ten years from now people will still remember this fight and how they got their money?s worth. The Philippine Icon was happy that the fans were pleased and that they didn?t lose respect for him even in defeat. Manny told his best friend Buhboy Fernandez, ?Don?t wash my trunks! In the future. I want to show my kids these trunks full of my blood, so they can see what their father was all about!?
PINOYS & PINAYS ARE ALL PROUD OF OUR HERO!
Unlike Luisito Espinosa and past Filipino ring greats, Manny did not lose respect or get embarrassed when he took the country into the ring with him. Although some Filipinos took the loss real bad and moped around the MGM grand after the fight, most appreciated Manny?s heart and courage and became even greater fans of the man known around the islands and now the world as ?Pac-Man.?
