By James Blears

WBC and IBF Super Bantamweight Champion Israel Vazquez says that Manny Pacquiao will score a unanimous decision win over Erik Morales, when the pair clash again on Saturday.

And Israel who’s nickname is El Magnifico, has some first hand experiences of what Manny is capable of doing and inflicting. He sparred with Manny prior to the Filipino’s fights against Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales first time round and against Hector Velazquez.

Israel says that Manny is very quick and hurt him on a number of occasions, in their intense sparring sessions.

Much was made of the myriad of distractions Manny had to endure leading up to the first fight against Erik. Israel who was also there to work, partially put the record straight by explaining:

”Manny trained behind closed doors. But before the sessions, there were interviews and autographs and afterwards it was the same. I think it did affect his speed and power a bit in the fight. But the big factor was the cut, which was very deep and bleed a lot.

“I think on this occasion it’s going to be different for Manny. Erik doesn’t have the same hunger as he once had. He’s got everything- fame, money and three championships. I don’t that think Erik is putting in the same sacrifices as before. He needs two or three more fights to show what a great champion and fighter he is and then he should retire in time.

“Manny must use his right hand more to make things more difficult for Erik. Manny must also get in close. He’s come up from much smaller divisions and he’s short, so he needs to infight at close range.”

As for Israel himself, he’s already in training for an IBF mandatory, most probably against undefeated Canadian Steve Molitor who’s ranked number three by the IBF. Israel says nothing is yet finalized, but it’ll probably happen on March 29th and the preferred location would be San Diego.

He said he’d relish a fight with IBF Bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez who’s planning to move up a division, and he’d look forward to a fourth fight against Oscar Larrios. So far the tally stands at 2-1 in Israel’s favor.

Assessing Rafael Marquez Israel commented: “Rafa is a very aggressive fighter who hits pretty hard, and he’s technically good. But although he’s recovered well, he has been hurt in several of his last fights against rivals who don’t normally hit that hard.”

Israel also confided that he wants to become the fourth Mexican to win titles in three divisions. Julio Cesar Chavez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales have already achieved this. Israel says after a couple of defenses of his current titles, his stepping stones will be to featherweight and then super feather, but fattening up further would be extremely difficult. He’ll have to hurry up as he’s already 28 years old.