LOS ANGELES ? First there was Agapito Sanchez. Then came Juan Manuel Marquez. And last weekend in Las Vegas, it was Erik Morales.
Manny Pacquiao seems to have problems dealing with fighters from the promotional outfit of Bob Arum as shown by Morales? masterful beating of the Filipino at the MGM Grand.
It was Pacquiao himself who realized this in an interview with a couple of scribes who covered his every move for two weeks while he was training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywod, and when he was having a ball in Las Vegas during fightweek.
“Talagang hindi yata ako mananalo sa mga boxers ng Top Rank,” Pacquiao said, his face puffy and red from all the punches he endured in that classic 12round battle at the Grand Garden Arena.
Every word that came out his mouth were heard by all those who were in attendance the morning after his heartbreaking defeat, and it did not sound comforting since it was uttered by a man who fought with one good eye beginning the fifth round onwards.
Pacquiao?s first experience with a Top Rank slugger came in Nov. 2001 when he slugged with Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, nicknamed “El Ciclon” (The Cyclone) in San Francisco, California. Pacquiao had difficulty figuring out what the New York-based brawler brought on top of the ring and the fight ended in a six-round technical split draw.
Then at the MGM Grand in May last year, Pacquiao was on the brink of scoring one of the most spectacular victories in ring history when he put Marquez, known as “Dinamita”, down three times in the first round.
Marquez survived the onslaught and went on to finish the fight and settled for a split draw.
Pacquiao thinks that Top Rank?s staging of big events may have something to do with the outcome although he did not say that Arum?s influence may have something to do with the decision the three judges at ringside rendered.
“Madalas kasing mag-promote ang Top Rank. Kahit saan-saan sila nagpupunta para mag-promote ng mga laban,” said Pacquiao, hinting that luck was probably on a Top Rank fighter?s side because of its involvement in boxing promotion.
