LAS VEGAS — Erik ?El Terrible? Morales wants people to remember.
Not the granite-chinned boxer who was introduced to the canvas for the first time in his career last January. Not the proud Aztec warrior who has suddenly lost three of his last four bouts. Not the 30-year-old fighter who struggles to appease the scales in the lead-up to his biggest matches.
He wants people to remember him for this moment, this fight.
For his third match against Filipino ring hero Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao, Morales wants people to see the indefatigable Mexican who refuses to be put down by doubters and will give it his all to show the world that he can keep his weight in check without looking like a gaunt, famine-struck fighter in the ring.
?I?ve really prepared hard for this match,? Morales had said through an interpreter.
Too bad Team Pacquiao doesn?t give a hoot.
?I agree that Erik Morales will be at his best,? said Pacquiao manager Shelley Finkel. ?But I believe it won?t be enough.?
The Pacquiao camp hardly looked perturbed upon seeing the new Morales for the first time Thursday at the Cox Concourse of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where the final press conference for the Pacquiao-Morales III: The Grand Finale was held.
Pacquiao (42-3-2, 32 KOs) and Morales (48-4, 34 KOs) have split their first two bouts.
Aside from Shelley?s bold pronouncement, no member of team Pacquiao came close to the tone of defiance Morales sported when he took his turn at the podium no longer asking people to believe but transforming the grudge match between the world?s most exciting super featherweights into something of a personal crusade.
?Three months ago, people didn?t believe I?d make the weight,? Morales said through manager Fernando Beltran. Then the Mexican motioned his left hand towards the direction of Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach and said: ?especially Freddie Roach, who kept talking about my weight, my weight, my weight.?
?I?m going to win this fight,? Morales said, with icy seriousness that should have sent chills running up and down Team Pacquiao?s spines.
?I have two motivations: The guys who want me to win and the guys who don?t want me to win,? he added, his hand still in the direction of Roach. ?The guys who want me to win [I want to repay them for] their loyalty and support. The guys who don?t want me to win, I?m going to prove myself to them.?
Morales also took a jab at Pacquiao?s younger brother Bobby, who lost the Continental Americas super featherweight crown after failing to make the 130-pound limit of that division.
?Instead of bothering about my weight, he should be looking at his own fighters,? Morales said, wearing a stern look on his face. The younger Pacquiao trains under Roach at the Wild Card gym.
The weigh in for the Pacquiao-Morales bout will also be held here at the Cox Councourse at 2:30 p.m. local time Friday. The bout will be held at the Thomas and Mack Center at 8 p.m. Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).
Pacquiao, wearing a red bonnet and a matching red sponsor?s jacket, was relaxed during the press conference and refused to be drawn into a word war with his archnemesis.
?I?m not the type of boxer who says bad things about his opponent,? said the General Santos native, who plans to visit the Vatican after the fight. ?I know Morales is in 100 percent condition and I know he can make the weight. I respect him because he?s a good fighter.
?I just want to give a good fight to make people who love boxing happy.?
Even Roach stayed away from verbally sparring with Morales, taking the microphone only to say that Pacquiao ?is in the best shape of his life.?
