THERE’S ALWAYS a first time for everything, according to trainer Freddie Roach, who won’t be surprised if Filipino Manny Pacquiao scores a knockout victory over Erik “El Terrible” Morales on Jan. 21 in Las Vegas.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Manny knocks Morales out,” said Roach during a teleconference call from Hollywood last Wednesday with boxing writers from the Newark Star-Ledger, Fort Worth Telegram, Contra Costa Times, ESPN.com, Reforma newspaper, maxboxing.com 15rounds.com and Boxing 2006 magazine.
“If he (Pacquiao) sticks to the gameplan and does what he has to do in the fight, I think I could see him knocking this guy out. You know the guy is a very game guy and a very tough guy and I don’t know if he has ever been knocked out but there is always a first time,” added Roach, who claimed to have learned from the mistakes of the first fight.
Pacquiao and Morales are slated to slug it out at the Thomas and Mack Center, a 19,000-seat arena that should be filled up mostly with Filipinos and Mexicans.
Unlike his trainer, Pacquiao refuses to predict if he will win by knockout, but assured his supporters that he will try his best to win by stoppage.
In their March 2005 duel, Morales won by unanimous decision but by narrow of margins from the three judges.
Since arriving in Los Angeles on Dec. 3, Pacquiao has been sparring with Mexican lightweight Armando Sta. Cruz, Venezuelan Jorge Linares and a few others, including a Russian lightweight who the GenSan lefty has been dealing with lately.
Pacquiao, 27, is a surprising 7-5 favorite over Morales, 29, who was shockingly defeated by Zahir Raheem the last time he fought on Sept. 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, a private jet will bring Morales to Las Vegas straight from his training camp in Queretaro, Mexico on Jan. 17, somebody from the promotional group Top Rank told the Bulletin yesterday.
The boxing man said Morales “won’t be stopping in Tijuana,” the fighter’s hometown and will proceed directly to Las Vegas.
Pacquiao and his entourage are motoring to Las Vegas on Jan. 16 where they are going to be met by a large Filipino contingent led by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, who will arrive in Sin City on the eve of the scheduled 12-rounder that will be shown on HBO Pay-Per-View.
Tickets to one of new year’s biggest fights are priced at 0, 0, 0, 0 and , while those who would like to watch it on the comfort of their homes should be willing to cough up .95.
