World Boxing Council (WBC) superfeatherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera was booed by fans when he chose to stick and run instead of engage challenger Rocky Juarez in their Las Vegas bout last September. It was a dull fight but Barrera did what he had to do to win the fight without risking a brawl.
There is speculation that Erik Morales will try to do to Manny Pacquiao in their rubber match Saturday night (Sunday morning, Manila) what Barrera did to Juarez and avoid a situation where he could get knocked out.
Last January, Pacquiao proved he could take Morales? best shots without going down but it wasn?t the same the other way around. Morales was floored twice and lost by knockout for the first time in his career.
If there?s a lesson the Mexican learned from the defeat, it?s not to engage Pacquiao in a toe-to-toe war. Pacquiao is just too strong for Morales. The expectation is Morales will box from long range, keep Pacquiao at bay, stay away from the corners, dance the night away and employ a hit-and-run routine.
But Morales promised in a conference call he won?t run away from Pacquiao.
“I?m not going to be ever booed off the ring,” he said. “No one?s ever booed me off any ring and it?s never going to happen to me. I?m going to try to do the best I can, whatever I need to do I?m going to try to give everyone a good show. That?s what I?m preparing for, that?s why I worked so hard. And I hope the other guy has also worked very hard to get ready for this fight because I heard they?re saying I?m not going to make 130 but let me tell you, as far as I?m concerned, there?s going to be a fight and it?s going to be a real good fight and I hope Pacquiao is ready for it.”
Morales has lost three of his last four outings and hasn?t fought since bowing to Pacquiao 10 months ago. Whether he?s rusty or not remains to be seen. During his layoff, Morales reportedly ballooned to as much as 165 pounds. He enlisted the services of seven conditioning experts to train at the Velocity Sports Performance Gym in Los Angeles before reporting for camp at the Otomi Mountains in Mexico. In all, Morales has trained four months for Pacquiao ? the longest he has prepared for a fight in a career that started 13 years ago.
Looking at his recent record, Morales appears to be over the hill. He?s only 30 but his body has taken a heavy toll from the wear and tear of a grueling 52-bout grind.
But Morales said he?s far from finished and he?ll prove it against Pacquiao.
“There?s been a lot of tough fights along the road,” he said. “A lot of my problems have been with making the weight. But for this fight, I feel really good and I not only feel very good, I look very good. I don?t know how many more fights I?m going to have but believe me, I feel well and after the fight, we?ll find out how good I am, how good I feel, how good I am and then we?ll go from there.”
Morales said he?s prepared to go the distance with Pacquiao. He insisted he lost last January because he was in poor condition, not because Pacquiao was superior.
“I?m ready to go 12 rounds and I will show that I can still be at the top level,” said Morales. “It?s just a question of being ready to go 12 hard rounds and have the condition to do. Whatever it needs to go with the intensity level that I need. I?m ready to win but this is a tough fight, a difficult fight but one that I?m going to win.”
