There’s a saying that goes something like, “It takes two to tangle, or was it tango.” Whatever.
Erik Morales has been the consummate tangler throughout his career. He tangled when it was unnecessary and loved every minute of it. The fiery-tempered Tijuana warrior fought with great emotion and a classic “Mexican” style of boxing. I remember being in attendance for his bout with Paulie Ayala and seeing Morales trying to end Paulie’s career in the 12th round. In the post-fight interview with Larry Merchant it was revealed that Erik had hurt both of his hands early in the bout. That pretty much sums up Erik’s love for the tango, err… tangle. The only reason “El Terrible” ever took a step back in any fight was to setup an offensive arsenal of his own.
On April 14th Manny will be facing a relatively unknown character in Jorge Solis. After watching some footage of the gangly 5’10” boxer/runner I thought that it’d be a potentially akward fight between “El Coloradito” and the Pacman. The exceedingly tall Jorge will probably look as though he’s trying to punch his shoe laces when he attempts to punch down at the crouching Pacquiao.
The one thing I’ve noticed about Manny is that he actually prefers to punch upwards towards his opponents rather than down. He’s almost like a spring that rushes up towards his opponent’s chin leaving shattered remains in the process. I know a couple weeks back I stated that Solis could really give the beast from the far-east some problems with his height and running style but I now retract that statement.
After closely analyzing the styles of both men, I feel that Manny is going to pull a “Michael Johnson” and run over Jorge’s ass like a 200 meter sprint. My pick in this fight, if Pacquiao trains hard, is a devastating KO over the lanky Mexican in under 6 rounds.
PS. I can’t wait for Manny to resolve his promotional issues and sign up for a mega-fight in the fall. C’mon Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, in the words of Rodney King “Can’t we all just get along.”
