LOS ANGELES — Don’t mess around with Hector Velazquez for he’s a real fighter — on and off the ring.
Ricardo Torres, the trainer-manager of Velazquez, gave Filipino newsmen a glimpse of the latter’s past, including the days when he got into some serious trouble in the streets of Tijuana.
Velazquez sports a nasty, eight-inch scar on his left arm. Asked where and how the boxer got it, Torres, through an interpreter, answered:
“It’s a knife wound he got in a fight.”
Torres said the incident happened almost 10 years ago. Then he went as if he were trying to send a warning to Pacquiao, two days before he fights Velazquez at the Staples Center.
“If he (Velazquez) can fight with pistols and knives, he’s got no problem fighting with gloves. He’s just so tough and so strong,” said Torres of his fellow-Mexican.
He said he expects the right-handed Velazquez to jump on Pacquiao in the first three rounds in the hope of luring the Filipino southpaw into an early brawl.
“Then if Pacquiao fights Velazquez’ fight, he’ll get knocked out,” added Torres during the fight’s final press conference Wednesday at the Wilshire Grand Hotel.
Just how tough he really is will be known during the fight night.
Velazquez, according to Torres, did some shadow-boxing in the morning before proceeding to the press conference of his fight against Pacquiao on Saturday at the Staples Center.
Torres said he doesn’t expect any problem with his boxer meeting the weight limit of 130 lbs since he’s a natural 126-pounder. He said Torres tipped the scales Wednesday at 130.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, weighed 130.5 lbs after his final workout at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. The official weigh-in is set Thursday, 3 p.m., at Staples Center.
During the presscon, Velazquez said he came to Los Angeles to prove some people wrong.
“I’m not an easy fighter like others think. I’m going to disappoint them. I respect Manny Pacquiao but I’m not going to back off,” he said through an interpreter.
Pacquiao came up to the microphone but hardly talked about the fight.
He just thanked the promoters, Bob Arum of Top Rank, then invited everyone to watch his movie “Licensed Fists” that will be shown in LA later next week.
