MANNY PACQUIAO is an overwhelming 4-1 favorite to repulse the challenge of the long-armed Mexican bomber Oscar Larios on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum, the Mexican media reported yesterday.
Owing to his exemplary track record against Mexican fighters, most noteworthy of whom are Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, Pacquiao, according to oddsmakers will add Larios’s name to his growing list of Mexican victims when the Filipino southpaw defends the World Boxing Council (WBC) International super-featherweight crown.
Apart from Morales and Barrera, Pacquiao also won against rugged Hector Velazquez, Emmanuel Lucero and Gabriel Mira, who Pacquiao mauled when he was still the WBC flyweight king in April 1999 at the Big Dome.
Another top-of-the-line Mexican, Juan Manuel Marquez, battled Pacquiao to a thrilling 12-round split draw in May 2004, but not after being floored three times in the first round.
Pacquiao stopped Barrera in Nov. 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and battered Morales in their rematch held early this year at the Thomas and Mack Center.
Pacquiao is currently training almost daily at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. He and trainer Freddie Roach will fly back to Manila on June 20.
Larios, meanwhile, is winding up in his preparation in his hometown of Guadalajara. He is scheduled to head to Tokyo late this month for the final phase of training.
Larios should be in Manila five days to a week before the fight.
The Pacquiao-Larios headliner and a handful of matches involving top-notch Filipinos against equally-promising Mexican counterparts will be beamed live during primetime in the US and elsewhere via pay-per-view.
