|
MY THOUGHTS ON MORALES vs PACQUIAO By Frank Costarelli Jr. |
 |
|
MY THOUGHTS ON MORALES vs PACQUIAO By Frank Costarelli Jr. |
|
|
We should be in for a very exciting and entertaining fight Saturday evening
between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales. After the first fight, I did not
think there was a need for a sequel. I felt Morales dominated the fight and
was the bigger, stronger fighter. I did not buy into the Pacquiao excuses;
Murad Muhammad had as much to do with Pacquiao’s loss as Erik Morales’ father
had to do with his loss to Zahir Raheem.
When Murad Muhammad negotiated Pacquiao's right to wear Reyes gloves away,
it turned out to be an unintentional brilliant strategical move. If my memory
serves me correctly, Morales was hurting and staggering Pacquiao with the
softer pillow-like Winning gloves. Had Morales worn Reyes he may have knocked
Manny out. No matter what gloves Manny wore that night, they were not going to
help him. Morales backed him up all night long and Manny had trouble getting
into punching range to land his bombs, and when he did land, most of his
punches were blocked by Morales.
For all intents and purposes the outcome of this fight should be no
different than the first fight but, I believe Pacquiao has a good chance to
win this fight and it has nothing to do with the type of gloves worn or the
absence of Murad Muhammad. It will have more to do with which Erik Morales
shows up.
We are going to find out if the Raheem loss was an aberration or a sign of
things to come. Erik has been in some tough battles, three with Marco Antonio
Barrera alone, and may be a bit shop worn. Fighters get old overnight, just
ask Roy Jones Jr. Saturday evening we will find out just how much Erik has
left. He’s going to have to bring his A game to get by a fighter of Pacquiao’s
stature.
Frank Costarelli Jr.
Questions? Comments? Email Frank Costarelli Jr. 1-20-2006
Brought to you by Saratogamist copyright 2001-2006 |
