JUSTIN Fortune, the strength and conditioning coach of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao, said he honestly thought the Pacman could have finished off Oscar Larios, but added: “I don’t know why he didn’t.”
In an interview with popular boxing writer Brad Cooney, Fortune said he thought Pacquiao did well enough to win, but said it was clear that Larios, the former two-time super bantamweight champion, came to fight, although he was “not in the same league.”
However, Fortune admitted he was very surprised that Pacquiao got wobbled in the third round but claimed that the Filipino southpaw “lost his focus for a minute and got tagged. But he shook it off and went on and finished strong. Manny ended up knocking Larios down a few times so it was a good win for Manny.”
Reacting to comments by legendary Mexican Erik “El Terrible” Morales on how Pacquiao couldn’t even KO Larios, Fortune said: “Take nothing away from Larios but Morales is a whole different ballgame.”
He said he and trainer Freddie Roach have a much different game plan for Morales than they did for Larios and that Pacquiao would be in much better condition.
Fortune blasted Morales for talking “b__l s__t,” which was in stark contrast to Pacquiao who doesn’t talk like that because it’s not his style.
“Manny talks with his fists and Morales got the s__t beat out of him last time, so let’s do it again.”
He said people usually talk that way “when they are scared. It’s human nature to talk s__t when you’re actually worried about getting bashed again.”
Fortune conceded that Morales would come to fight and they could “never, ever take this guy lightly. Erik is an extremely dangerous fighter no matter how much smack he likes to talk.”
