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Editor's Note: Published on page A19 of the December 29, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
IT'S GOING to be lights out this time for Manny Pacquiao.
Going into their fifth week of spartan training, Erik "El Terrible" Morales and his team are predicting a knockout loss for Pacquiao when the Filipino hero and the Mexican cross paths anew on January 21 in the main event of "The Battle" at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The bold statement came Wednesday from Morales' conditioning coach Raul Robles, who was interviewed by the fight website Box-latino at the Queretaro mountains, where the Mexican star has been holed up for weeks to prepare for Pacquiao.
"This is their second meeting, and Erik's maturity will play a crucial role in his victory by knockout over Pacquiao," said Robles.
"I have total confidence that Erik will knock Pacquiao out this time around."
He said Morales learned a lot from his defeat to Zahir Raheem and would fight Pacquiao in a better psychological frame.
Morales won his first meeting with Pacquiao by unanimous decision last March in Las Vegas by wisely exploiting a nasty cut over the right eye that bothered the Filipino starting in the fifth round.
The two appeared on the same ring last September in Los Angeles with Pacquiao stopping Mexican Hector Velasquez in the sixth round and Morales losing by unanimous decision to Raheem.
Morales, who is now trained by Jose Luis Lopez, has hired Manuel Leyva and Mauro Gutierrez as sparmates. The two fighters are deemed just as fast and strong as Pacquiao and are capable of applying the pressure on Morales during training.
Aside from the gym work, Morales also runs in the mountains and on the track.
The track sessions consist of the interval training being used by marathoners. It involves running 200 to 400 meters several times per session, twice a week.
The mountain runs, meanwhile, involve hitting the road in the 3,000-meter Queretaro range.
Pacquiao is himself preparing for the rematch in Los Angeles. He started training early this month under US trainer Freddie Roach. Salven L. Lagumbay, contributor
IT'S GOING to be lights out this time for Manny Pacquiao.
Going into their fifth week of spartan training, Erik "El Terrible" Morales and his team are predicting a knockout loss for Pacquiao when the Filipino hero and the Mexican cross paths anew on January 21 in the main event of "The Battle" at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The bold statement came Wednesday from Morales' conditioning coach Raul Robles, who was interviewed by the fight website Box-latino at the Queretaro mountains, where the Mexican star has been holed up for weeks to prepare for Pacquiao.
"This is their second meeting, and Erik's maturity will play a crucial role in his victory by knockout over Pacquiao," said Robles.
"I have total confidence that Erik will knock Pacquiao out this time around."
He said Morales learned a lot from his defeat to Zahir Raheem and would fight Pacquiao in a better psychological frame.
Morales won his first meeting with Pacquiao by unanimous decision last March in Las Vegas by wisely exploiting a nasty cut over the right eye that bothered the Filipino starting in the fifth round.
The two appeared on the same ring last September in Los Angeles with Pacquiao stopping Mexican Hector Velasquez in the sixth round and Morales losing by unanimous decision to Raheem.
Morales, who is now trained by Jose Luis Lopez, has hired Manuel Leyva and Mauro Gutierrez as sparmates. The two fighters are deemed just as fast and strong as Pacquiao and are capable of applying the pressure on Morales during training.
Aside from the gym work, Morales also runs in the mountains and on the track.
The track sessions consist of the interval training being used by marathoners. It involves running 200 to 400 meters several times per session, twice a week.
The mountain runs, meanwhile, involve hitting the road in the 3,000-meter Queretaro range.
Pacquiao is himself preparing for the rematch in Los Angeles. He started training early this month under US trainer Freddie Roach. Salven L. Lagumbay, contributor
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