Manny Pacquiao agrees facing a fighter coming from a defeat is fraught with danger.
That is why he is preparing as hard if not harder than Erik Morales who will be fighting for his boxing life when the two clash on Jan. 21 in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, 27, believes Morales will come in physically and mentally prepared as he cannot afford to absorb back-to-back defeats.
Interviewed by a leading website, Pacquiao said he doesn’t expect an ill-prepared and overconfident Morales on fight night. Morales was beaten in his last fight by Zahir Raheem, an unheralded fighter whose role was supposed to be as meek victim to the stylish Mexican.
Instead, Raheem exposed Morales as a weak and immature boxer who could not adjust to a different tactic. Raheem beat Morales by unanimous decision on the same night and ring that Pacquiao knocked out Hector Velasquez last September.
Morales, 29, has been training in Queretaro, 220 kilometers north of Mexico City, under the watchful eye of new strategist Jose Luis Lopez after his father Jose “Olivaritos” Morales, was dumped following the Raheem fiasco.
Owing to his smashing victory over Hector Velazquez on the same night Morales was shamed by Raheem, Pacquiao has been installed a 7-5 favorite although those in the know refuse to acknowledge this.
The Filipino said he not going to take a backward step in the event Morales decides to press the action.
“We are going to come up with a more aggressive approach,” said Pacquiao.
Trainer Freddie Roach has also dissected the first fight and is optimistic that a new tactic will propel the Filipino southpaw past the Mexican superstar.
Morales said he does not plan to change his winning formula. But in the world of boxing, such a statement could be a ploy.
Ploy or not, Pacquiao appears ready for the encounter where he stands to receive a cool million.
