Manny can KO Erik if he sticks to game plan

Beating Erik Morales is one thing. Knocking him out is another.

Difficult as it is, Manny Pacquiao’s chief handler Freddie Roach said it could happen when the two great fighters clash anew on Jan. 21 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if Manny knocks out Morales," said Roach, the noted American trainer last Wednesday during a conference call Team Pacquiao hosted for a group of boxing writers.

"If he sticks to the game plan and does what he has to do in the fight I think, I could see him knocking this guy out. You know the guy is a very game guy and a very tough guy," said Roach.

"And I don’t know if he has ever been knocked out but there is always a first time," he added during the conference call also graced by Pacquiao, his promoter Gary Shaw and manager Shelly Finkel.

Pacquiao lost to Morales in a classic match last March at the MGM Grand also in Las Vegas but has long dreamed of this rematch, which is also expected to draw millions of viewers on a pay-per-view basis.

The Filipino boxing sensation has been training in Los Angeles, at the Roach-owned Wild Card Gym, since Dec. 3, and is scheduled to wrap it up before moving to Las Vegas on the 16th or five days before the fight.

Morales is also in the thick of his preparations, holding camp at Queretaro which is almost 200 kms from Mexico City. He is scheduled to fly straight to Las Vegas not later than Jan. 17 on board a private jet.

While Pacquiao is coming off a sixth-round knockout win over Mexico’s Hector Velasquez last September, Morales will try to pick himself up after losing to Olympian Zahir Raheem in the double-header with the Filipino slugger.

It will be remembered that Morales also came off a bitter loss to reigning WBC 130 lb champion Marco Antonio Barrera when he fought Pacquiao the first time. Morales run away with a unanimous decision.

Pacquiao, according to Roach, has found a couple of new sparring partners, including a 135-pounder from Russia and a six-footer from Sweden.

"We just brought in a kid from Russia who is a 135-pounder. He fights at 135 but he weighs about 145 right now so he is a stronger guy and someone that Manny can let loose with and let his hands go with this guy.

"Then we got a six foot, 130-pounder from Sweden. I don’t have his name off hand but he has been doing very good work for us. He has a great jab like Morales and Manny is handling it very well and we are just preparing," said Roach.

The loss to Raheem, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that Morales is on a slide. Team Pacquiao knows this. Asked which Erik Morales are they preparing for (the one that beat Pacquiao or the one that lost to Raheem), Roach said.

"The best one of course, we would be fools not to. The last time we fought Morales he was coming off a loss to Barrera and everyone thought he was all done and just taking another tough fight.

"And we are not going to make the mistake we made last time and we are focusing on him and we expect him to be at his best. Manny and Erik are going at it. So I don’t know, we would be fools not to expect him to be at his best," Roach said.

Pacquiao readily agreed.

"I want nothing more than to beat Morales. Maybe we will do a Barrera fight (soon). But right now, I am only focusing on the Morales fight. In his fight against Raheem, I have seen Erik’s mistakes. I need to use my jab more when we fight again. I need speed, more movement and more body attacks," Pacquiao said.