THERE’S NO stopping Top Rank Inc. from staging the much-anticipated rubber match between the promotional outfit’s fairhaired boy Erik Morales against Filipino star Manny Pacquiao this year.
Box-Latino.com, owned by Morales, reported over the weekend that the duke out will be held in late-October or early-November.
The Filipino icon is set to rumble with Mexican Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum on July 2.
Top Rank big boss Bob Arum had earlier penciled the fight for Sept. 16 at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas because of the clause in the contract that a third fight is necessary in the event Pacquiao emerges victorious in the rematch.
Pacquiao annihilated Morales in the tenth round last Jan. 21 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas to even their head-to-head matchup.
Arum’s plan of staging a third fight may sidetrack the bid of Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) to pit Pacquiao against Marco Antonio Barrera on Nov. 4 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Owned by Oscar dela Hoya, GBP promotes Barrera, who is raring to get back at the GenSan lefty after absorbing a crushing defeat the first time they met in Nov. 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Despite the terrible beating Morales took, the 29-year-old Tijuana native is looking forward to another meeting with Pacquiao since he has decided to reunite with his father and long-time trainer Jose “Olivaritos” Morales, who was not in his corner when the Filipino became the first fighter to stop Morales dead in his tracks.
In place of the senior Morales was Jose Luis Lopez, who was called in as a replacement when the management team of Morales had a falling out with the fighter’s father.
Still, for the rubber match to happen, Morales must agree to a weight limit of 130 lbs, according to Pacquiao, who insists “its’ 130 lbs or nothing.”
Despite the assurance from Top Rank that a third fight is a done deal, Pacquiao is unsure if Morales is indeed willing to slug it out for the third time.
“Personally, I don’t think he wants to fight me. But if he wants it, I will not back down from a fight,” said Pacquiao, who begins his preparation for the Larios fight for the World Boxing Council International super-featherweight crown next month.
The first phase of training for Pacquiao is the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood with Freddie Roach and the next phase will be held in a soon-to-be-built training camp in Baguio City in June.
