Latinos feel Morales has slim chance Salven Lagumbay Inquirer
November 14, 2006
LAS VEGAS -- The buzz on Manny Pacquiao here in Sin City has become too much that even Latinos are having second thoughts about putting their dollars behind Mexican Erik Morales in their much-awaited rubber match.
And as fight day gets closer, it seems the odds have gone up in favor of Pacquiao.
“In the first fight, I lost big money betting on Pacquiao, but I remain loyal to him,” said Jorge Berinquel, a Cuban who claims to be a good friend of WBC lightweight champ Joel Casamayor.
“I won some money in the second bout, but I haven’t broke even. This time, I am putting my money again on Pacquiao.”
Even die-hard Mexican boxing fans in the Los Angeles area admit that Pacquiao is hard to beat at this point in his career. A Mexican who declined to give his name said the Filipino has become the “thorn in the side of Mexican fighters.”
It is expected that when the bell rings for the 12-round rumble, the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas will be 50-50 in terms of fan support with Filipino and Mexican fans chalking up a huge volume in ticket sales.
Even promoter Bob Arum, in an interview, expects the Pacquiao-Morales rubber match to eclipse last week’s Floyd Mayweather-Carlos Baldomir welterweight match-up, which generated only 325,000 pay-per-view subscriptions.
Arum said he sees between 350,000 and 400,000 subscriptions for the “Finale.”
