It can be dangerous when a boxer looks past an opponent, but reports from Manila seem to suggest that Manny Pacquiao is focused on his fight with Oscar ?Chololo? Larios even though the rubber match with Erik Morales is already pencilled in for Las Vegas on November 18.
Pacquiao’s homecoming appearance is a huge event in the Philippines, where the fight takes place on a Sunday although due to the time difference the PPV TV coverage is available in the U.S. on Saturday evening.
In Pacquiao?s last fight on home turf he blew out the Thai, Fahsan, in a truly spectacular fourth-round finish that saw his opponent literally knocked off his feet.
It will not be this speedy or easy against Larios, although Pacquiao is a big favourite.
All the advantages seem to be with Pacquiao: younger, faster, the puncher in the fight and boxing in front of an adoring hometown crowd.
Larios, though, brings a lot of big-fight experience, including winning four title fights in Japan.
Pacquiao, who will be defending his super featherweight championship, is perceived as the bigger man because Larios is moving up two weight divisions after losing his super bantamweight title.
The physical difference might not be pronounced, however, when the two men get in the ring. Pacquiao is not really a big 130-pounder (we sometimes forget that he turned professional as a light-flyweight) while I always thought that Larios seemed to be a big-framed fighter for the 122-pound division and I believe he was struggling for some time to hold his weight down. Larios is taller than Pacquiao by an inch and half or so, and I believe that the extra eight pounds might help the Mexican better to absorb the punches that will be coming his way ? although this might merely prolong the inevitable.
There does seem an inevitability, too, about the outcome of this fight.
Larios, 29, has seemed to me to have been showing a bit of wear and tear in the last couple of years: he has, after all, had 61 fights and has been boxing professionally for 12 years. Meanwhile, Pacquiao, 27, actually still seems to be improving under the direction of his Los Angeles trainer Freddie Roach, with more head movement and far better use of the right hand.
Instead of just steaming in, sticking out a range-finder type of right jab and blasting away with the big left from his southpaw stance ? which was once his predictable if punishing style of fighting ? Pacquiao is now much more of a two-handed fighter, jabbing and hooking with the right.
In fact it was a right hook that got Hector Velazquez in trouble when Pacquiao stopped the tough veteran in the sixth round last September, and his right hand was a big factor in Pacquiao?s revenge win over Erik Morales in January.
That was a tremendous performance by Pacquiao, perhaps even more impressive than his win over Marco Antonio Barrera due to Morales?s fierce resistance (against Barrera it was essentially all over after the first few rounds).
We have, then, a Pacquiao who is coming into this fight after what I would consider a great victory and who seems to have taken his fighting to a new level against a Larios who appears to have peaked.
In his last fight, when he lost his 122-pound belt to Israel Vazquez, I was surprised at how easily Larios was getting hit and also how much effect the punches seemed to be having on him. The knockdown he suffered in the first round seemed almost to shock him, and although Larios appeared to be coming back into the fight I had the impression that Vazquez was firmly in control when the end came in the third round due to Chololo being cut over the left eye.
Larios seemed almost relieved when the fight was stopped. I do not necessarily blame him ? Vazquez was punching very hard that night and Larios was unfortunate to have been cut so early in the bout ? but, still, it was not quite the reaction I would have expected from a long-reigning champion who had just lost his title.
Now he is stepping right back into the ring against the hardest hitter he has ever faced, without having had an interim, tune-up type of bout. It does not look good for Larios.
Larios is, though, in the position of having nothing to lose, and I expect him to go in and give his best effort. He has excellent boxing ability and has always been a busy-punching fighter, so I would not be surprised to see him have initial success.
Yet I think back to how Wayne McCullough was able to hit Larios in their two meetings ? the first fight especially. If Wayne could get his punches home with some consistency then Pacquiao surely is going to be able to hit Larios, too ? but with much more damaging effect.
Freddie Roach has predicted a win inside six rounds for Pacquiao. I do not think the end will come as soon as that, but I cannot see Larios getting through the completed 12 rounds. I think it is more likely that this fight will last around nine rounds, with Larios being broken down to the point where he just cannot take any more ? the point where body and spirit succumb.
Last Updated: June 29, 2006 8:02pm
