It was a brief and brutal blowout. This writer had sounded out a voice of caution for Manny not to take Morales lightly and expect a tough fight.
As it turned out quite pleasantly for boxing fans this side of the equator, Manny trained so hard and so well that it took him only three short rounds to dispatch of the man known as El Terrible, an ending that Manny himself never foresaw.
And if the reports are true, he did it while nursing a slight fever due to swollen tonsils. Trainer Freddie Roach (the only roach welcome in my home) rationalized that due to Manny?s condition, they opted for a quick kill rather than risk tiring out in the later rounds.
Well, if that was the case then I?m actually happy for Morales. Really. Had it been a more serious malady afflicting the Pacman, he conceivably would have taken Morales out a bit sooner. Just imagine if Manny had a nasty toothache or heaven forbid, diarrhea? Due to the urgency of the matter at hand, if I may so boldly suggest, the most appropriate time would have been just after Sarah Geronimo belted out ?…kung may mang-aapi..? Bam! Whack! Boom! ?Ang mamatay nang dahil sa iyo!? Kablag! Off to the dressing room.
The fact also that Morales came in to the ring at a sparse 139 lbs. of skin and bone to Manny?s 144 lbs. of mean, rippling muscle certainly did not help the former?s cause. By giving away the size advantage he had in their first two fights, he practically ensured that we would be witness to a massacre the likes of which have not been seen since Butterbean discovered the all-you-can-eat buffet.
DIESEL OVER VELOCITY. The much-ballyhooed scientific approach incorporated by Velocity Training to Morales? regimen was a dud. A load of common sense would have helped him more than a science textbook. After all it?s a fight, not a quiz bee.
While he attributed his running out of gas in the second fight to his weight problems, Morales still needed the bulk in order to pack more power into his punch and to cushion and absorb Manny?s murderous blows. That was what kept him competitive with Manny in their first two fights. Manny was faster, but he was bigger. Velocity?s job was to let Morales maintain his inherent advantages while at the same time discover a way for him not to tire out in the later rounds. At least that?s what I think they should have done.
Instead, those geniuses made Morales as small as he could for the weigh in (129 lbs.) and did not allow him to gain as much as he should have right after. As a result, Morales looked like he just checked out of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital ward and seemed on the verge of a knockdown every time Manny?s Reyes gloves came within a whisker of his chin.
You only have to review tape of their prior encounters wherein Morales gallantly stood up to the 22 rounds of hell that Manny dished out to understand what I?m talking about. Hey Velocity guys, what?s the point of making sure he won?t tire out in the last rounds when he can?t even get there? The fizzy punches thrown Manny?s way the first two rounds only served to fire up his punching pump the same manner you would a diesel engine. It made Manny madder and better, and unfortunately for El Terrible, he loaded up on the wrong fuel.
BROTHER?S BLUNDER. A day before Pacman?s fight, Bobby Pacquiao showed us why he is not his brother?s better.
Exhausted and severely tested by the tough Hector Velasquez (whom Manny demolished in six rounds), Bobby misfired several times, losing by disqualification in a fight he was winning on the cards.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK. Contrast the following lines from the most prominent boxer-siblings in the country: ?I was surprised it ended in the third round. I expected a long tough fight.?? Manny Pacquiao after demolishing El Terrible ?No no.. it was not a bu..bblow blow?? Bobby Pacquiao after being disqualified.
THE LAST ROUND. This week?s last round is on a trio of birthday boys- Reyboy Aleonar, my basketball buddy who just turned 21, Atty. Fillmore Gomos, my Latagaw fraternity brod who always looks 21 and Marcelino Co, my high school batchmate who has 21 million reasons to smile. Cheers!
