Manny Pacquiao’s Past Ten Years: “The Republica Strikes Back”
Seven months after Manny Pacquiao’s controversial draw against Juan Manuel Marquez in 2004, Pacquiao fought in Manila and TKOed Fashan 3K Battery in the 4th round. Three months after that victory, Pacquiao would complete the last leg of what his promoter Murad Muhammad proclaimed as their quest to slay the three headed Mexican monster in the lower weight classes.
Pacquiao moved up in weight from the 126 division to 130 lbs. to face Erik “El Terrible” Morales on March 19, 2005 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the same site of Pacquiao most recent conquest of Ricky Hatton. Pacquiao was more and more becoming a household name after his sensational performances against the other two Mexican greats in Barrera and Marquez and was tagged the monicker of “The Mexican Assassin”.
Filipino and Mexican fight fans came in full force to watch the bout and the two gladiators did not disappoint from the get go. Morales was coming off a loss in the third fight of his epic trilogy against nemesis and fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera and was motivated to defeat Pacquiao in hopes of redeeming the loss by beating the man who gave his arch-enemy the worst beating of his life. Pacquiao on the other hand came in trying to shake off the disappointing and controversial outcome of his last big fight against Marquez and was on a mission to prove to the world that he was the real deal and definitely deserved the victory that was wrongfully taken away from him due to an error in one of the judges’ scoring.
Both men traded punches early and were both looking to engage, but Morales’ gameplan was obvious from the start. He would not fall into the same trap both his countrymen did before him coming out the gates. Morales was applying the counter-punching tactic Marquez used after the initial rounds that proved successful against Pacquiao. Not only that, Morales who was the bigger man during the fight, was imposing his size effectively against the smaller Filipino who was fighting at 130 for the first time in his career. Pacquiao was getting tagged with counters every time he came in to try and land his right jab-left straight combinations. HBO Jim Lampley commented in the early rounds of the fight:
“For a guy who has seldom backed down in his whole career, Morales is playing the role of the counter-puncher here. He didn’t just watch that Morales film, he has adopted it.”
And adopted it he did, as Morales looked as if he was simply toying with Pacquiao and reading and checking his attacks and countering it successfully as if Pacquiao was an open book. Pacquiao to his credit did not stop trying, although everytime he would land a couple of good shots, it seemed as if he was eating four or five solid ones in return. Morales circled around Pacquiao to avoid his killer left and placed some major doubt in Pacquiao’s head. The fight almost seemed like a mismatch as “El Terrible” put on a boxing clinic and played the part of teacher and Pacquiao the pupil.
Things went from bad to worse when Morales opened up a cut above Pacquiao’s right eye with an inadvertent head butt in the 5th round and further tagged it with his left hooks. Pacquiao’s eye was going to shut soon and sensing blood- his own in this case- Pacquiao went for the kill. Roy Jones Jr. who was a commentator for the fight gave Pacquiao credit for the heart he displayed and the fact that he kept on coming, but also pointed out what everyone was seeing- Morales was in command of the fight and was simply too good and too smart for Pacquiao that night. Morales was able to stave off and strafe whatever assault Pacquiao would mount. He perfectly executed the proper gameplan against Pacquiao’s style and mixed up the right amount of counter-punching, defense and controlled aggression.
In the final round however, Pacquiao would get somewhat of a moral victory as Morales decided to engage him against his corner’s advice and completely doing a 180 from his original strategy. Morales switched from orthodox to southpaw and seemed to have been daring Pacquiao to come and try to get the knock out he needed to beat Morales. It was by all means, not one of the smartest things to do as Morales seemed to have had the fight in the bag at that point. But Morales is also a showman on top of being a fierce fighter. It’s what made him one of the most popular Mexican boxers in history. He always made sure he gave fans what they wanted and as smart as he was fighting that night, something inside him must have told him that it wasn’t the typical Erik Morales people came to see that usually brought the fireworks. And on that 12th and final round, fireworks indeed went off. Pacquiao was able to land a lot of his left bombs and rocked Morales a few times. There were points that Morales seemed wobbled by Pacquiao’s punches and was about to go down.
Roy Jones Jr. remarked,
“I don’t know why Morales is fighting Pacquiao southpaw. That seems dumb to me. I don’t understand that.”
Jim Lampley added,
“His father told him don’t do anything stupid. Please be cautious. He switched southpaw and got hit by a massive left hand. I think Morales wants to fight! Oh my gosh! Talk about going into the jaws of a lion.”
Veteran HBO commentator Larry Merchant topped it off saying,
“This is a picture that doesn’t need any captions.”
And for the final minutes of the epic fight, Pacquiao and Morales went at it and just let their hands go, to the deafening cheers and appreciation of the overjoyed crowd. Both men gave the audience what they came in and paid for. Nobody was indeed going to ask for their money back. The fight ended as both men raised their fists and rightfully so- it’s the type of fight that even the loser can be proud to be part of.
As ring announcer Michael Buffer put it when he announced the scorecards,
“Ladies and gentlemen, here at the MGM Grand we saw two of the best fighters, not just in this division but pound for pound in the world today, have the courage to face each other. A round of applause for both these gladiators.”
All three judges scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Morales for the unanimous decision win to the delight of the Mexican crowd in the arena. Finally somebody had put down the man that had tormented them, and that man was “El Terrible”.
After the fight, controversy within Pacquiao’s camp involving his promoter Muhammad was made public. There was also the stipulation that Pacquiao’s manager set him up for failure when he signed a contract that had Pacquiao wear “Winning Gloves” which have a more protective padding that benefits boxers instead of his accustomed “Cleto Reyes” gloves which favor punchers because of the type of material used. Here some of the issues and conflicts that were discussed at the time as reported by Eric Rineer of East Side Boxing.
— Pacquiao and Morales each made $1.75 million for the fight according to figures released by the Nevada Athletic Commission on Thursday.
— Pacquiao has alleged that Muhammad now owes him a percentage of pay-per-view revenues. Pacquiao reportedly will file a case against Muhammad seeking his share. Shelly Finkel, Pacquiao?s manager, did not offer a timetable.
— Pacquiao earned the biggest purse of his career on March 19.
— Finkel and Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach are irate about Muhammad?s decision to allow the fighters to use Winning gloves, which are favored by Morales. Pacquiao prefers to wear Reyes gloves, which have less padding. Roach said his fighter was never consulted about the gloves before the contract was signed.
I spoke to Finkel and Muhammad several times over the past week and here are excerpts from those interviews:
Finkel:
?Manny got $1.75 million but none of the pay-per-view revenues. Based on our calculations, Murad made more than Pacquiao. It?s ridiculous.
?There?s no place in the promoter?s contract for him to decide which gloves (a fighter) wears.
?Manny is a puncher. That?s his big advantage. Reyes are puncher?s gloves. He lost on all three cards 115-113. Don?t you think if he would have used his (normal) gloves, he could have won one more round? If he?d have won one more round it?s a draw.
?People can say what they want, but the fact is Manny?s taxes have not been paid for years? I was not involved with Manny when most of this began. I came into the picture on Feb. 1.?
Muhammad:
?Manny?s a millionaire as I promised him. We lost but we put up a magnificent fight that shows I?m a good promoter. If you look at Manny Pacquiao?s Web site, they?re slaying me!
?There was no 40-percent verbal contract that was offered to the boxers.
?We (Muhammad and Bob Arum) were working in the dark. We had no blueprint? HBO gave us $2.7 million the night of the fight as a courtesy. That?s for our expenses. HBO advanced us the money but we have to reimburse them if we don?t make over $2.7 million (in pay-per-view revenue).?
?Pay-per-view takes 30 to 60 days before we even see (the money). We don?t have the figures nor do we have any money.?
?They?re going to sue me? Sue me for what? They have no jurisdiction, no paperwork, no verbal contract. It?s all trickery, all con.?
?Freddie Roach made a thing about the gloves on national TV. They cried about the gloves. Do you really think the gloves were a difference to me??
?Freddie Roach was so egotistical (during the fight). He didn?t even move out of the way of the cutman.?
?Up until 25 minutes before the fight, Freddie?s friends, cousins and other people were coming into Manny?s locker room asking him for autographs.?
It would just be the beginning of probably the toughest fights Pacquiao has had in boxing- his outside the ring battles. Check back tomorrow for part six of this article as I chronicle the next few years of Manny Pacquiao’s career, as he struggles through adversity and top of personal and managerial conflicts that almost destroyed his career. As Pacquiao’s star grew, so were the criticisms and controversies that usually comes with fame.
