Roach bares how Erik could beat Pacman Recah Trinidad Inquirer
November 13, 2006
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- There’s one secret that trainer Freddie Roach should be sharing, very exclusively, only with Manny Pacquiao.
Or maybe not even with Pacquiao himself.
It’s the formula on how to beat Pacquiao, Roach’s best, most exciting fighter.
If Roach, happily unmarried, say, gets hitched before Saturday, he should keep mum and keep the secret from his partner.
Well, maybe Roach was feeling cocksure.
Or he could’ve suffered a sudden attack of generosity.
Yesterday, exactly a week before Pacquiao’s final-act encounter with Erik Morales, Roach told the Inquirer how Pacquiao could be beaten on Saturday.
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Repeat: Roach had no business divulging such an explosive secret.
But, the way he sounded yesterday, Roach would’ve nevertheless told it to Morales if the Mexican ring great, perceived to be on the wane, had strayed into the Wild Card Boxing Club on Pacquiao’s final day of training here.
Roach’s sudden openness about a weapon the whole of Mexico had been craving to know was incredible.
“Morales can stop Manny, but he has got to do it quick,” Roach, in light brown T-shirt, told the Inquirer over the wornout reception counter at Wild Card.
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At first blast, your reporter here had to push his ear closer to Roach’s lips.
But Roach was not mumbling incoherence.
Roach meant it. Morales, awful underdog, could buck the odds and avenge his knockout loss -- first in his colorful career -- to Pacquiao last January.
Roach was, in fact, very clear, straightforward on how Morales could hope to stop Pacquiao.
“He must do it early, very early, maybe in the first round, yes in three rounds,” Roach explained.
But why should Morales do it inside three rounds?
Roach smiled wanly and stared at the ceiling of his second-floor kingdom.
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He spoke, unevenly now, words cracking through lazy tongue.
Still, Roach managed to come across with a clear message.
After three rounds, he was explaining, no way could Morales mount a serious attack.
“His weight trainers at Velocity made great claims, but reality would reign come fight time,” Roach mumbled.
For Morales to win, he must beat the red light and crash through immovable barriers.
Morales, to put it plainly, must turn back the years.
Now a badly beaten 30, Morales must jump back to that day in March 2005 when he beat Pacquiao by unanimous decision in their first encounter.
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That, needless to say, would be equal to turning back the hands of time.
And Roach minced no words in stressing that, where Morales stands now, after the Mexican warrior had fought at 135 lbs. and next ballooned to over 160 lbs., there was no way he could go back and stay in full competitive form for 12 full rounds come Nov. 18.
Anyway, based on feeds from the Morales camp, it would appear El Terrible had won his battle against the weighing scales.
Morales continued to claim he would breeze past the machine at 130 lbs. on Nov. 17, eve of the Grand Finale at the Thomas and Mack Center, some five hours by car from here.
Still, there were experts who played it kindly and suggested Morales could still be sharp and deadly for the first six rounds.
After that, they maintained, his legs would again be gone, just as what happened in the rematch last January, when he suffered a 10th-round stoppage.
The general view is that Morales, at best, would be only half prepared for his third encounter with Pacquiao.
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Anyway, after he was done with his final session at Wild Card yesterday, Pacquiao invited this reporter for late lunch at the Nat’s Thai Restaurant at the ground floor of the complex that houses Wild Card.
Pacquiao was asked: Do you believe what Roach said that Morales would be capable of stopping you in the first three rounds?
“Possible, yes, it’s possible,” Pacquiao smiled.
He looked cool, very sincere in accepting the possibility.
To cap his final day at Wild Card, Pacquiao, after a sumptuous meal of tom yum soup, grilled fish and chicken, broccoli, picked the guitar and conducted a mini-concert to the delight of fans that filled the restaurant.
