The weight controversy is over after Erik Morales stepped onto the scale Friday in front of his adoring Mexican fans as they cheered him on with chants of ?Mexico, Mexico.? The official weights for both Morales and Manny Pacquiao were 129-pounds.
The fans packed into the Cox Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack Center to get a glimpse of their respective heroes. Pacquiao was booed by the overwhelmingly Mexican crowd when he took to the scale, but he seemed undeterred by the noise and shrugged it off with a smile.
Despite the identical weights, Morales looked the more depleted of the two and seemed eager to get off the stage and start hydrating.
In their last fight, Morales blamed the weight-loss for the TKO loss. This time around, he didn?t look as shriveled up, but clearly at this point in their careers, Pacquiao is more comfortable at junior lightweight. Whether Morales can combat the fatigue of getting down in weight, as well as the younger, faster Pacquaio is the million-dollar question we?re eagerly awaiting the answer to.
This fight has truly become a mega-event with PPV buys expected to exceed one-million buys as the loyal Filipino and Hispanic communities root on their national heroes. Bob Arum happily announced that the fight will be sold-out at the Thomas & Mack Center with over 17,000 attending, surpassing even Holyfield-Lewis I. Only Chavez-Camacho had a greater showing at the T & M with 19,000, but as Arum reminded us, that?s because Don King was the promoter and sold extra standing room only tickets.
?We have too much respect for our fans to do that so we?ve provided closed-circuit locations,? said Arum as if people could just walk in and watch the fight Saturday night free-of-charge. The actual price is $50 to watch it on the big screen.
