As Manny Pacquiao hit the mitts with trainer Freddie Roach at a downtown gym, Erik Morales arrived at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel and Casino and declared himself in his “best ever” condition ahead of his rematch with the Filipino icon on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Flying in on a private jet straight from his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico, Morales came in with his promoter Fernando Beltran and said he was “anxious” to take on Pacquiao, whom he defeated via unanimous decision in their first fight last March 19 at the MGM Grand also in Las Vegas.
The winner of the World Boxing Council super featherweight title eliminator will gain the right to face current WBC and International Boxing Federation 130-pound kingpin Marco Antonio Barrera—who has beaten Morales twice but spectacularly lost to Pacquiao in November 2003.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao worked out with Roach to fine-tune his attack strategy, which the trainer said he has tweaked to better handle the Mexican legend and probably deal him his first knockout defeat.
“We’re working on boxing and we’re going to be smart about it,” Roach told Tim Smith of the New York Daily News in an article posted on the paper’s website. “A basic 1-2 is not going to work. Manny knows that now.”
Roach admitted he was disappointed that Pacquiao did not employ the strategy he planned for Morales in their first encounter, and said he would like to see the real “PacMan” this time, not the “imposter who showed up last March.
“He’s definitely capable of fighting a better fight than the last time,” Roach told the Daily News by telephone from Las Vegas on Tuesday. “I was definitely disappointed in him that last time. You just can’t show up and expect to knock out Erik Morales, especially when Morales is up for the fight.
“Manny was looking to throw the 1-2 and then land that big punch. But Morales is a smart fighter. He’s seen that a million times,” Roach added.
