If not naked, Morales was overweight

LAS VEGAS — Friday’s official weigh-in for the Manny Pacquiao-Erik Morales turned out to be a good dry-run for rooters of these two superb fights at the MGM Grand here.

The weigh-in was held in an enclosed section of the MGM Garden Arena, the venue of the scheduled 12-rounder, and under a concert-like atmosphere that only raised the adrenaline from both camps.

A big group of Filipinos sat at the lower rows and nearer the stage where the boxers were weighed while their Mexican counterparts, bigger in number, took different positions with most of them on the upper rows.

The place will be rocking on both sides by the time the two boxers slug it out starting at 9 p.m. here (12 p.m. Sunday in Manila).

Security was tight during the official weigh-in because that’s how they do it here in Las Vegas — unlike in some places where there’s just too many people around the boxers. In this case, it’s only the boxers, a couple of team members and officials on stage.

Filipino fans waving flags and wearing red, white and blue bandanas kept on chanting Pacquiao’s name each time the Mexicans, also waving their own flags, shouted Morales’ name.

At one point, the Filipinos, led in the cheering by loyal Pacquiao fan Cris Aquino, went Bar-Re-Ra! Bar-Re-Ra! in reference to the reigning WBC and WBA super-featherweight champion who was beaten by Pacquiao in 2003.

This seemed to have stunned the Mexicans.

Ahead of Morales, Pacquiao was weighed at 129 lbs and was met by loud cheers from the Filipino camp. The hard-hitting Pacquiao gave them more to cheer about, flexing his muscles, his mid-section in particular, Bruce Lee style.

The Mexican boxer, who came a minute behind, was weighed at 130 lb flat. He would have exceeded the limit by a tiny fraction had he kept his boxer shorts on. He was weighed naked with officials blocking the view of the public with a black cloth.

As he was being weighed, the process taking a little longer than Pacquiao’s, the Filipino fans chanted: "Mo-Ra-Les! Over-Weight! Mo-Ra-Les! Over-Weight!

But overweight Morales was not. He flexed his muscles for a while just the same, smiled at the crowd, put his clothes back on and headed down the stage.

See you tomorrow, he must have said on his way out — in Spanish of course. — Abac Cordero