LOS ANGELES, California — When Manny Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach did a duet in Las Vegas last week to admit mistakes, one grizzled boxing expert listened in amusement and great concern.
That listener was Larry Merchant, the familiar gray-haired figure left with the task of quietly debating with fighters after a big boxing bout.
On Saturday night, Merchant was there again beside Pacquiao, the winner whom he called a combination of Muhammad Ali, Bruce Lee and Elvis Presley.
This time, the task of talking to the winner came quite easy.
While other experts like Al Bernstein and Ring Magazine had predicted a Morales win, Merchant refused to be swayed.
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Merchant told this reporter at the Margaux media assembly area of the Wynn Las Vegas on the eve of The Battle he had a hunch it would be Pacquiao.
Nothing clear and definite, just a gut feel, Merchant clarified.
But why such a hunch?
“Because Pacquiao could really improve on his mistakes,” Merchant said.
It would be noted that among the first things Pacquiao did upon touching base in Las Vegas for his rematch with Morales was hold a mini presscon.
There, he explained how they had undermined and taken Morales lightly before the first encounter at MGM Grand.
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Roach grabbed the mike and took the blame. He explained he had sincerely thought Pacquiao would have an easy outing against Morales last March because El Terible had lost to Marco Antonio Barrera, whom Pacman had knocked out in Texas.
Silly, but it did not turn out to be that simple.
Roach and Pacquiao, saying they had made all necessary adjustments, promised a complete turnaround in the rematch.
Now, forget what they say that it could be the case of too many blows in too many fights in too many rings for Morales.
Forget how Morales had junked his father as trainer. Forget reports that he was coming in from an extended honeymoon with a new, younger wife and was still 145 pounds a couple of weeks before The Battle.
Forget whispered claims Morales took the brutal Lasix reducing pill in order to drastically shed excess poundage.
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Instead, Morales should be made to explain why he mouthed falsehood in the fight press conference.
Morales definitely was not being honest to himself when he announced that he did not remember being shaken by a single Pacquiao punch in their first meeting.
If there was one fighter who had really hurt him, Morales would say, it was Junior Jones, two-time conqueror of Barrera, Morales’ nemesis.
He was not hurt by Pacquiao a single moment in their first battle?
If Morales did not remember being shaken or hurt, while his legs behaved like soggy noodles in the 12th round of his first encounter against Pacquiao, truth came knocking in the form of a sorry stoppage on Saturday.
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So experts claimed it was never possible for Pacquiao-Morales II to have turned into a continuation of the first encounter between the two great pugilists.
Well, when the first bell sounded for the rematch last Saturday, it was no longer for the first round but, in reality, for Round 13 of the Pacman-El Terible rivalry.
Morales visibly brought into the second encounter memories of the near knockout suffered against Pacquiao in the first fight.
Pacquiao capitalized on what he had learned and discovered in the first fight.
He worked hard, very hard to cure his mistakes.
Pacquiao did not peddle falsehood.
Morales did. He should be able to come back only if he starts being unfair to himself.
