By Ronnie Nathanielsz
World Boxing Council president Don Jose Sulaiman believes the outcome of the “Lethal Combination” showdown between the Philippines national treasure Manny Pacquiao, the reigning super featherweight champion and lightweight champion David Diaz “is a flip of the coin.”
The WBC president who will be at special ringside for the battle of two world champions from different weight divisions recalling the 1965 clash between Gabriel “Flash” Elorde and Carlos Ortiz said his views were based on the fact that Pacquiao was moving up from 130 to 135 pounds to fight Diaz.
In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Sulaiman that whenever a fighter moves up a division “the punching comes down” pointing to Erik “El Terrible” Morales as a good example.
He said Morales as a super bantamweight was a knockout king and “when he came up and came up to the lightweight division he didn’t have the punch anymore.”
However, Sulaiman noted that Pacquiao is different because “he has the heart of a winner. He has a heart of a lion.” While he doesn’t like to make predictions Sulaiman told us “Diaz has to be in his very best night to be able to beat Pacquiao.”
