THE FIRST thing that Oscar Larios’ agent Rafael Mendoza did minutes after checking in at the upperclass Discovery Suites in Pasig yesterday was tell hotel executives to get rid of the food and drinks inside the refrigerator.
“I want no nothing inside the refrigerator,” demanded Mendoza just before he spoke with a handful of scribes inside room 1216 shortly after Larios and trainer Edison Reynoso arrived from Tokyo.
While Mendoza insists that Larios is not overweight, he was particularly concerned about what the abundance of beverage and snacks might do to somebody preparing to lock horns with Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino knockout artist who Larios faces on Sunday morning at the Araneta Coliseum.
As Mendoza was saying his piece, Larios was right beside him taking a big bite of one piece of ripe Philippine mango that was placed on the head table with other exotic and imported fruits just a few meters from the door.
Mendoza said Larios will make the weight limit of 130 lbs as the Guadalajara native is three pounds over the limit and promises Pacquiao’s supporters of Larios putting on a show.
“Larios is ready to fight,” said Mendoza. “But I cannot guarantee a win. There’s no guarantee in boxing and anything can happen. A broken jaw, a broken wrist, a cut…” “I am not confident. I just believe that Larios has a great opportunity. Larios might win or he may lose, but he’s not going to quit,” said Mendoza, who plans to hold two or three workouts in the coming days with the press prevented from seeing.
“Oscar Larios did not come here to please the press, but to beat Pacquiao. So the press will only be allowed to see him after the workout and we are planning to give the press 15 to 30 minutes to ask questions.”
Mendoza hasn’t decided yet where Larios will train in the next few days although the public and the press will get to see him showcase his stuff during an open workout beginning at 11 a.m. today at the Big Dome.
Being eyed is the Elorde Sports Center in Para?aque although Boy Cantada’s well-equipped and exclusive training center in Bicutan might even be considered.
Still, Mendoza believes that Pacquiao is an extraordinary fighter with “speed and power” but has “lots of weaknesses that I won’t tell you.”
Larios, who sparred a total of 90 rounds, 50 in Tokyo and 40 in Guadalajara, hardly spoke during the 25-minute interview but assured fight fans of his readiness to take on one of the world’s fearsome punchers as he trained hard by sparring four to five times a week since reporting for gym work.
“I am just waiting for the fight to take place,” said Larios with Mendoza and Reynoso aiding in the translation.
Mendoza also clarified that he wasn’t sure whether it was Larios who broke the ribs of reigning World Boxing Council bantamweight (118 lbs) champion Hozumi Hasegawa, who Larios sparred with a few times in Japan.
“That’s what they (Japanese) tell us but we don’t know because Oscar trained with us two times only and then Hasegawa headed for training camp,” added Mendoza.
Pacquiao is the overwhelming favorite in the scheduled 12-round WBC International super-featherweight title match with his American trainer Freddie Roach predicting that the long-armed and busy-punching Mexican will not go past six rounds.
Roach recruited a lanky Russian lightweight, Rustam Nugaev, to spar with Pacquiao because fighters belonging to Pacquiao’s weight class won’t endure the pain of the Filipino’s punching power.
