MANNY PACQUIAO’S monicker is “The Destroyer.”
The Filipino boxing hero more than lived up to that billing against Erik Morales in front of a packed Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).
Pacquiao put on a virtuoso performance with a 10-round demolition of his Mexican nemesis. Combining newfound ring smarts with his usual lethal arsenal of punches, Pacquiao proved to be an efficient engine of destruction in giving Morales the most terrible beating of his storied career.
Pacquiao did not only avenge his close unanimous decision loss to Morales in March last year; his humiliation of “El Terible” also had the boxer thinking of early retirement.
Obviously the Filipino boxing idol was more prepared mentally and physically than his foe. He had none of the distractions of their first fight, including a messy squabble with his former manager Murad Muhammad.
He also had the gloves he wanted, the lightly padded Cleto Reyes pair of mitts, which he used with telling effect against Morales.
Credit should also be given to Pacquiao’s extensive training regimen under the noted American trainer Freddie Roach. A natural southpaw, Pacquiao unveiled a solid, stinging right jab that hurt and kept Morales at bay. His combinations were fast and crisp. At one point in the ninth round, he unleashed a flurry on Morales’ body ? la the late movie action king Fernando Poe Jr. Pacquiao was fit to go 12 rounds, beyond if needed.
Telltale signs showed in the early rounds that Morales, the pride of Tijuana, Mexico, was not the same boxer who outwitted and outfought Pacquiao in their first bout.
When he got tagged by a body-head combination in the second round, Morales anchored his right arm on the ropes just to remain standing. Pacquiao pounded Morales again in the sixth, and Morales desperately counterattacked to bail himself out of trouble.
For the first time in his career, Morales, who isn’t known to back off from any opponent, found himself running away from Pacquiao’s onslaught.
Except for some slight welts under his eyes and minor bruises on his body, Pacquiao hardly looked the worse for wear after the fight. In contrast, Morales’s face looked like a puffy, gruesome mask from the punishment he absorbed from Pacquiao.
If anything, it was Pacquiao’s hands which were hurt the most from the fight. Records showed that Pacquiao connected with 195 of 795 punches, including 171 of 537 power punches. Hours after the match, they remained swollen and had to be put on ice. One can imagine the impact of those hits against Morales to have made them such.
What is in store for this charismatic Filipino ring warrior? More big-money fights, of course, surpassing the $2 million (P106 million) he got from this latest match. Pacquiao is bound to get more from the pay-per-view revenue of the bout, which could easily mean another $1 million. A hot commodity, he is expected to make more commercial endorsements headed his way. His ad-studded trunks and fight jacket reportedly cost P1.5 million for each ad.
Looming on the horizon is an expected megabuck return bout with WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera. He is the same foe Pacquiao beat badly in November 2003, prompting Barrera’s handlers to throw in the towel in the 11th round. A Pacquiao-Barrera rematch is inevitable since the Filipino is the No. 1 contender in the weight division, having beaten Morales.
But the rematch between “The Baby-faced Assassin” and “PacMan” won’t likely be in the immediate future, considering that Pacquiao needs to recover from the rigors of his latest ring adventure.
In the meantime, expect Filipino fans to greet Pacquiao with another red-carpet welcome when he returns home—a treatment the country’s undisputed No. 1 sports hero deserves.
