Dogfight: Morales vs Pacquiao
 By Coyote Duran and Anthony Cocks (January 21, 2006)
 |
|
|
Well boys and girls, it’s that time again when we pit two of DHB’s big dogs against each other to argue the split on this weekend’s Erik Morales vs Manny Pacquiao rematch. Will it be repeat or revenge? Read on to get the drum on this intriguing match-up.
Coyote Duran: At the risk of sounding cliché, I expect the hotly anticipated Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao rematch to pick up right the hell where the first fight left off. Round 13, if you will. So the last thing we should expect in Las Vegas on January 21 is a chess match.
Ten months have passed since the two sluggers engaged in their last titillating scrap and four since their paths crossed in the night against separate opponents, so time and tensions have done nothing but molded new and exciting possibilities for what should be nothing less than an all-out brawl.
Another all-out brawl that Manny Pacquiao will once again lose.
The variables are sound. Without question, this is the crossroads for both men. A win by either defines so much and determines even more for their futures. Morales needs this win so much to erase the skidmark of doubt that many fans have wiped on him for his loss at lightweight to the slick Zahir Raheem. Morales knows that he's got a crutch in reminding us that his loss to Raheem was at the unexplored 135 pound weight class so he has that going for him but also knows that by meeting Pacquiao at 130, a definitive loss will provide no alibi. He has to go with what he knows and that’s the non-stop, face-first attack.
Pacquiao’s advantage is holding Morales’ loss against him knowing that on the very same evening, Pacquiao defeated his own sacrificial lamb, Hector Velasquez. Pacquiao’s mental strength may be heightened somewhat in his own mind in believing that he should’ve been entitled to move on past Morales, giving himself his own crutch in avoiding a rematch with the Tijuana slugger (which we all know didn’t happen). Pac’s motivation, should he defeat Morales, also includes a potential soiree with a particular Mexico City native who just happens to hold two of the four major alphabet titles at junior lightweight (Hint: His name rhymes with Barco Mantonio Arrera.).
Sure, it sounds like I’m making the argument for a Pacquiao win but stick around, it gets better. If anything, I think these tasty bits at the bottom of the Pacquiao pan (Yum-yums, as the great Emeril Lagasse calls ‘em) are more than enough fuel to fire up the Morales motor en route to a Cannonball Run-style win over ‘The Destroyer’. Think about it, Howlers: In reflecting on such a disappointing loss when his upcoming opponent is reflecting on the same disappointing loss (as well as mentally jamming both thumbs in his ears, making big Bullwinkle horns and going, ‘Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah, you lost to your tune-up!’), it must infuriate him so much to know that he could have performed so much better and showed Pacquiao that he had something to worry about. Now he absolutely has to.
It’s also because he’s getting this ‘Whether you win or lose, you still get the pay-per-view’ treatment that ‘El Terrible’ feels that he’s got something to prove, something to owe to Bob Arum. If Morales loses this one, forget the next pay-per-view, pally. You won’t be on it. As for that certain rematch with a certain kingpin at 130? Well, you can bet the house that Morales’ own little obstinacy pop-up timer is bulleting out of his own skin in knowing that his arch-enemy’s got two of The Big Four’s straps and Morales has got zip. So for what it’s worth, winning Pacquiao’s penny-ante WBC International Super Featherweight belt will go along way, in his proud mind, to taking him to that fourth bout which would also determine a Ring Magazine World Champion at 130 pounds.
So we wind up here, kids. The one fight that writes the road map. This time, there’ll be no crappy, cheap-shit socks. No bullshit about whatever gloves should be used. And no meathead (or should I spell ‘meathead’ with two M’s?) promoter in Pacquiao’s corner f__king up the plumbing. It picks up where it left off. Round 13 on. And Manny Pacquiao does what he does best with the locomotive-style inward movement, left hooking and southpaw jabbing. But Erik Morales will be waiting, with the expectation that he’ll be leaving the Thomas and Mack Center marked up more than a restroom wall at a bowling alley, knowing that Pac-Man’s momentum will be his own undoing. The way I see it? Pac shoots in overenthusiastically, cracking melons with Morales, cutting himself open. Morales’ claret radar goes off and he moves in for the kill, trading as he’s accustomed to do (even better with someone who’s willing to trade as much as Pacquiao) and with the scent of blood in the air, goes ape-shit and punches open another cut on Pacquiao’s mug. In the ninth round, either the attending ring physician stops the fight on cuts or referee Kenny Bayless calls a halt to the fracas when Pacquiao, trapped against the ropes, fails to answer the endless Morales assault with punches of his own.
Anthony Cocks: Make no mistake, Manny Pacquiao deserves to be the underdog when he steps into the ring at the Thomas and Mack Center on Saturday night to match fists and wits with Erik Morales for a second time.
Don’t be fooled by Morales’ lackluster showing against Zahir Raheem. Not only was the fight one division too far for the former three weight champ, it was apparent early on that Morales hadn’t prepared properly for a bout that he was viewing as a simple tune-up.
Now while Morales controlled much of the action in the first bout, it should be noted that Pacquiao was just one round away from securing a draw and two rounds away from locking down a win. The Morales cheer squad would have you believe that Pacquiao is a one-dimensional banger; but if this is true, why is a top pound-for-pound fighter pushed to the limit to eke out a decision win? One the flipside Pacquiao’s esteemed trainer and master tactician Freddy Roach says that the Filipino firebrand simply got left hand happy and neglected some of the other potent weapons in his arsenal.
And guess what? I believe Papa Roach. While it’s fair to say that the Pacman’s southpaw left cross is his bread and butter punch, he also carries considerable heat in his forgotten right hook. Roach knows where Pacquiao went wrong but most of all, he knows how to fix it. In the first fight Pacquiao neglected the body entirely and went left hand headhunting. A few right hooks and a two-fisted assault to the body is all Pacquiao will need to pick up an additional two rounds against Morales and come home with the choccies.
Pacquiao is a proud man. It was his pride that compelled him to stand and trade with Morales the first time out and it was his pride that cost him the victory. In retrospect it’s clear that Pacquiao traded more than he should, which was entirely unnecessary considering Pacquiao’s superior hand and foot speed.
In the first fight Pacquiao – in his first bout at 130 pounds – played into Morales’ hands by opting to stay in the pocket and trade rather than use his formidable speed to get off with his shots and get out. It’s well known that Morales doesn’t handle movement particularly well and all the energetic former flyweight and super bantamweight champion will need to do to take him out of his game is to stay on his toes, use his speed, attack the body and throw the right hand. If Pacquiao makes these minor adjustments I don’t see how he can’t win.
The real question here isn’t whether Pacman can improve on his first performance; rather it’s what can Morales do to keep up when Pacquiao adds another dimension to his game?
|
|
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2006
|
|
|
|
