By Bob Canobbio (photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank)
Manny Pacquiao, (43-3-2, 33 KOs) a 7-1 favorite as he returns to the scene of his 11/15/03 destruction of Marco A. Barrera, against unknown Jorge Solis (32-0-2, 23 KOs). A crowd of 20,000 is expected, second only to Julio Cesar Chavez fighting to a draw with Pernell Whitaker in 1993.
Manny blew away Erik Morales last November in their rubber match. After winning a fairly even first round, Pacquiao turned up the heat in rounds two and three, outlanding Morales 73-25 in power shots. He closed the show by landing 51 of 71 power punches (72%) in round three. Morales managed to land just 44 total punches in less than three rounds of action.
Last July, Pacquiao made his triumphant return to his native Philippines vs. former 122-lb champ Oscar Larios in the same arena where 31 years earlier Muhammad Ali KO’d Joe Frazier in “The Thrilla in Manila.” After getting rocked early in round three, Manny opened a cut over Larios’ left eye with a right hook and went on to dominate the rest of the fight. The game Larios was down in rounds seven and twelve. The final scorecards were 117-110, 118-108 & 120-106.
In January of ’06, Pacquiao avenged a decision loss to Morales ten months earlier with a tenth round knockout. Pac-Man trailed on all cards through five rounds before his body attack (missing in the first fight) began paying dividends. He outlanded Morales 32-8 in power shots in round six- and the route was on. After landing an average of ten jabs per round over the first six frames, Morales, unable to hold off Pac-Man any longer, managed to land just 20 jabs the rest of the fight. As a result, Manny had a 103-45 edge in power punches landed over the last five rounds. Morales was down twice in the tenth before the end came at 2:33 of the round. It was the first time Morales had been stopped in his 52-fight career.
Morales dominated all phases of their first fight (3/19/05). He outlanded Pacquiao 265-217 in total punches, landing 37% to just 24% for Manny. Morales’ accurate jab was the difference in the fight. He landed 96 of 303 (32%) to 34 of 349 (10%) for Pacquiao, who neglected the body as well. Morales brazenly fought nearly the entire last round as a southpaw in defiance of Manny’s power. That questionable move by Morales enabled Manny to put up his best numbers of the fight (he landed 31 of 99 total punches), however it was too little too late as Morales won a 115-113 (on all 3 cards) decision.
Manny was bothered for more than half the fight by a bad cut over his right that occurred in round five. Speaking of being bothered, Pacquiao, a fan of the Reyes gloves (known as a puncher’s glove) wasn’t too jazzed over having to wear the Japanese manufactured “Winning” gloves (selected by Morales), thanks to the negotiating (or lack there of) of his ex-promoter Murad Muhammad.
The 5’10” Solis has never lost a fight and he’s never faced an opponent of Pacquiao’s caliber either. His toughest test to date, vs. Humberto Soto (9/17/04), resulted in a no contest after a clash of heads left Solis unable to continue. Probably a good thing, as Solis was down earlier in the round.
In July of ’05, Solis landed 39% of his 60 punches thrown per round vs. journeyman Nicky Bentz (36-4-2), who’s lost his last five fights. Solis also landed 43% of his power shots vs. Bentz, who landed just 15% of his 43 punches thrown per round. Solis outlanded Bentz 38-7 in power punches over the last three rounds. Solis also averaged 36 jabs thrown per round- a weapon he’ll need to hold off Pacquiao.
Solis fought another Soto named Orlando, in March of ’04, scoring a third round KO over the 32-10-0 veteran. Solis landed 41% of his 60 punches thrown per round. He landed 23 of 43 jabs in round one, and 36 of 79 (46%) overall.
Since his KO win over the veteran Bentz, Solis hasn’t exactly sought out quality opposition. In January, he KO’d the 9-3 Fernando Lizarraga in five; decisioned the 6-1 Lizardo Moreno over ten rounds; KO’d the 12-2 Adalberto Borquez in three and decisioned the 28-15 Hector Marquez.
Solis, whose brother Ulises currently holds a jr. flyweight title, learned the tools of his trade from Jesus ‘The Professor” Rivero. Rivero trained Oscar De La Hoya from ’95-’97 and also trained Hall of Famer Miguel Canto and Guty Espadas Sr. “The Professor” stresses technique and lateral movement. Under Rivero’s tutelage, De La Hoya landed a CompuBox junior lightweight record 212 jabs in his January 18, 1997 decision win over Miguel A. Gonzalez. That’s an average of 18 jabs landed per round, more than three times the junior lightweight average.
Solis is a straight-up fighter with little upper body movement. He’ll try to establish his jab early and move side to side. He throws one or two punches at a time, then likes to reset. He seems to prefer a slow paced fight. When pressed by Bentz and Soto, he often dropped his gloves to chest level and did not fire back. Not a good formula for success vs. the whirlwind attack of Pacquiao.
It may take Pac-Man a few rounds to heat up before his body attack slows down the movement of Soto, who doesn’t hit hard enough to get Manny’s attention. Pacquiao by sixth round KO and onto a possible rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez.