BY THE time Erik Morales gets down from his high-altitude training camp in the secluded Otomi mountains on Nov. 13, he should have already logged at least 100 rounds of sparring, Top Rank’s publicist Ricardo Jimenez told the Bulletin yesterday from Los Angeles.
Jimenez bared that Morales, who faces Manny Pacquiao for the third time on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas, racked up 12 intense rounds with four different sparring partners last Saturday and looked in terrific shape with three weeks remaining before their Nov. 18 battle at the Thomas and Mack Center.
“Erik should be able to spar a total of 100 rounds (by the time he leaves Otomi for the US),” Jimenez said.
Team Morales will take a 45-minute road trip to the city of Toluca and board a private jet leased by Top Rank that will bring them to Los Angeles.
A parade is being planned for Morales on Tuesday just before he boards the same plane for the one-hour journey to Sin City with his father and long-time trainer Jose “Olivaritos” Morales leading the entourage.
When pressed for comment on Morales’ current weight, Jimenez said he is certain that the 30-year-old Tijuana native, who suffered a stinging 10th round knockout loss to Pacquiao last January, will make the super-featherweight limit of 130 lbs and avoid shelling out a hefty penalty.
“But the question is how would Erik reacts or feels (after making the limit),” said Jimenez, sounding a bit concerned about the condition Morales would be in after the official weigh-in considering that it is not a secret that he has been having difficulty shedding off excess baggage.
Still, Jimenez feels that the whole of Mexico remains confident that Morales can get the job done even against somebody who beat him up so bad ringsiders thought they’d seen the last of the long-armed puncher known as “El Terrible.”
“The people in Mexico are still optimistic (about his chances). If Erik fights an intelligent fight, he will win.”
Morales had outpointed Pacquiao the first time they met in March 2005.
Despite the fact that they hold a victory against each other, odds favor Pacquiao, who has been installed by sportsbook.com as a -210 favorite to repeat over the +170 Morales.
Meanwhile, Fred Sternburg, who has been tapped to serve as the 27-year-old Pacquiao’s PR man for the fight, was thrilled to report that “tickets are flying fast and that the floor area tickets are already sold out.”
“Top Rank is expecting a sellout crowd,” added Sternburg, upbeat that the arena, which seats over 19,000 will be occupied.
