Promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank has dubbed Manny Pacquiao/Erik Morales III ?The Grand Finale.? That moniker can be applied to many aspects of this highly anticipated fight Saturday night at the sold out Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, televised on HBO Pay Per View.
With each fighter having taken one of the two prior bouts between them, Morales by twelve round unanimous decision in March 2005, and Pacquiao by tenth round TKO in January 2006, the rubber match is the finale of the series. For Morales, with his difficulties making the 130-pound junior lightweight limit, this is likely to be his final appearance in the division.
With three losses in his last four bouts, a November 2004 majority decision loss to Marco Antonio Barrera, being on the short end of a unanimous decision to Zahir Raheem in September 2005, and the loss to Pacquiao this year, another loss Saturday may mean retirement. The ?Mexican Warrior,? Morales, 48-4, 34 KO?s, is thirty years old, but it?s not the years, it?s the miles, and if he suffers another demolishment like Pacquiao, 42-3-2, 32 KO?s, delivered in their second fight, he may have had enough.
This could be the grand finale of Pacquiao?s relationship with Top Rank, if new Promoter, Golden Boy/Oscar De La Hoya is to be believed. Golden Boy and Pacquiao recently signed a contract; Arum insists he still holds a legally binding contract to promote Pac Man after this fight.
Pacquiao has been at the center of plenty of distracting controversies like this promoter tug-of-war in the past. But he and trainer, Freddie Roach, insist his training camp has been free of distraction; that Manny has mastered keeping his business concerns far away from his focus and concentration as he prepares for Saturday.
Finally, this may be the grand finale of Pac Man fighting as less than the biggest draw in boxing. His popularity continues to grow; with Floyd Mayweather/Oscar De La Hoya set for May 5th, and both of them insisting they will exit the scene afterward, with the kind of performance we have come to expect from Manny, he is likely to vault into the top tier of box-office and PPV drawing power.
The under card features light welterweights, Mike Arnaoutis, 17-0-2, 9 KO?s, from Athens, Greece, by way of Atlantic City and Colombian, Ricardo Torres, 29-1, 27 KO?s, with the WBO Belt at stake. Light flyweights, Brian Viloria, 19-1, 12 KO?s, and Omar Nino, 24-2-1, 10 KO?s, reprise their August 10th WBC Championship contest in which the Mexico native, Nino, took a lopsided unanimous decision from the Freddie Roach trained, Hawaiian, Viloria.
