LAS VEGAS, Nevada — A day after showing off a balanced, more polished Manny Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach yesterday made another bold move by baring how they plan to soften and crush Erik Morales.
“We’re gonna break him down,” Roach told the Inquirer before a mini press conference in a borrowed gym here where Pacquiao later limbered up for over an hour to maintain peak form.
The idea, Roach said, was to pound at a weak part of Morales’ anatomy.
“We go more to the body this time, just like what Barrera had done in beating him,” Roach confided.
Pacuiao displayed newfound defensive and attacking skills in his final workout at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood Monday.
But reminded that digging into the body of a counter-attack specialist like Morales would be equal to breaking through a fortress, Roach said they would push the intensity level higher.
He said they would work to move away from a sticky tactical battle and instead emphasize on superior speed and power to break the barriers expected to be erected by Morales through his superior style and skills.
Roach admitted they had erred in taking Morales lightly last March.
“There will be no repeat of that, we promise a turnaround,” Roach said.
With his ferocious, devil-may-care stance, there’s no denying Pacquiao’s specific goal is to stop Morales.
But after acknowledging that Morales has never been stopped in over 50 professional fights, Roach said they would also go for the rounds.
He said they would box and gain the necessary points.
