Prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.
That?s Oscar Larios, the 29-year-old former world champion from Mexico who goes up against Manny Pacquiao before noon today at the Araneta Coliseum.
Larios, who?s had more fights than Pacquiao, has come all the way from Guadalajara to challenge the Filipino who has beaten a few of the greatest Mexican fighters in history.
Larios has a ring record of 56 wins, four losses and a draw with 36 knockouts while Pacquiao, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today, carries a 41-3-2 card with 33 impressive knockouts.
Larios? agent, Rafael Mendoza, said the former 122 lb world champion is ready for everything Pacquiao could offer. Larios is hoping to survive the early rounds, frustrate the Filipino and take it from there.
“Mentally and physically, Larios was trained to fight and beat Pacquiao,” said Mendoza, who has handled 18 different champions in close to 50 years as a boxing manager.
“I?m sure that in the beginning, Pacquiao will put a lot of pressure. He?s going to fight the same way he fought Juan Manuel Marquez, and that I know,” said Mendoza.
He was referring to Pacquiao?s May 2004 contest with Marquez, another Mexican gladiator. The Filipino scored three knockdowns right in the opening round but was dragged into a 12-round contest that ended in a draw.
Mendoza questioned Pacquiao?s inability to finish off an opponent who had gone down thrice right in the first round.
But that was then, and Pacquiao is a stronger, wiser fighter now.
“He?s fighting before his public and he wants to win by knockout. He believes that Larios does not have the power to hurt him so he will jump on him. He considers himself much stronger than Larios.
“Pacquiao is a dangerous fighter the first four or five rounds. He?s very dangerous. But after that, he slows down. You see the percentage of Pacquiao?s knockouts they come in the first rounds,” said Mendoza during yesterday?s official weigh-in.
Mendoza believes that the longer the fight gets, the stronger their chances become.
“I?m positive about that and I assure you that a longer fight will favor Larios,” he said.
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao?s trainer, is confident that Pacquiao has what it takes to last 12 rounds.
“We?re ready to go 12 rounds but I just don?t think it will. Manny?s in great shape and he?s so anxious. He?s ready to fight,” he said.
NOTES: It?s the same old mouthpiece for Manny Pacquiao. According to Dr. Ed dela Vega who flew in from California yesterday morning, his favorite customer will have to use the same mouthpiece which he wore when he knocked out Mexico?s Erik Morales last January in Las Vegas. Dela Vega, who specializes on personalized mouth guards for athletes, mostly boxers, said Pacquiao was given a new one but wasn?t able to use it in his training. “So I told him he couldn?t use it for the fight. He should have tried it on right when he started training for this fight. But we?ll have it as back-up just the same,” said the US-based dentist? A big-time cockfighting aficionado who was all set to spend P200,000 for just a handful tickets to the fight suddenly backed out when he learned that he still had to pay the VAT (value-added-tax) for them. “He backed out and said he didn?t want to buy the tickets anymore. He was surprised when he was told to pay around P220,000, including taxes,” said a friend of the disgruntled Pacquiao fan. “I told him I?d pay for the VAT, but he asked me not to bother. He didn?t buy the tickets.”
