A fight well-planned

Manny Pacquiao’s stirring tenth-round knockout of Erik Morales was a welcome joy for the Philippines yesterday, and a challenge to other who desire to excel in their chosen fields to plan their fights. As you will recall, this writer polled experts and celebrity fans, and the general consensus was that Pacquiao would win via knockout from the middle rounds on. I even said that Manny would put Morales away in the ninth round. Everything went as Freddie Roach and company planned.

In the first round, both fighters were tentative, which was expected. Pacquiao jabbed, and seemed more aggressive. Then Morales exploded with hard left-right combinations going into the last minute of the round, and took it.

In the second, Manny started cutting the ring and attacking, with the three-time champion counter-punching effectively. There weren’t many prolonged attacks in this round, as if both fighters were being extraordinarily cautious. Manny looked like he was head-hunting at this point, and forced Morales back to win the round.

The third round saw Pacquiao punching with more variety, and cutting the ring better. Pacquiao was going to the body more, and pulled out his left hook. Morales flashed a great overhand right that caught the Filipino’s attention towards the last minute, and followed through with uppercuts. I thought this round was even.

Now it was Morales’ turn to attack Manny’s head. The fourth round found Pacquiao jabbing more, with Morales having the more impressive flurries. Although technically, the round looked pretty even, visually Morales was more impressive, packing more power in his combinations. I gave this round to Morales, by a very slim margin.

Early in the fifth round, Morales unloaded a left that knocked Pacquiao’s head back, and pushed him to the ropes a couple of times. But Pacquiao started to pick up the pace with stinging combinations, particularly to the body. At any rate, the plan was to invest in body attacks and wait for a later opening for a knockout. This round, I gave to Morales.

Round six was the turning point of the fight. Pacquiao came out very aggressive, repeatedly forcing Morales back. Peeking out from exceptional defense, Pacman staggered Morales in the final minute of the round, bouncing him off the ropes and almost knocking him out. The bell kept that from happening. Score this one for Pacquiao.

With his nose bleeding and a cut opening over his right eyebrow, Erik Morales came out hard in the seventh round, desperate to prove he wasn’t running out of steam. He forced Pacquiao against the ropes. But Pacquiao used a variety of body shots, hooks, jabs and uppercuts to visibly slow down Morales, who was losing the sting in his punches. Pacquiao emphatically takes the round.

Morales started fast in round eight, but it was clear that he was fading. Pacquiao maintained his body attack, savaging his tormentor’s rib cage and torso. Morales’s defense started to drop, and a three-punch combination backed him up midway through the round. The Mexican tried to slug it out in the middle of the ring, but he didn’t have enough to follow through on his attacks. Another round for Pacquiao.

Round nine saw more of the same. Morales flashed his jab and some combinations, but Pacquiao was fresher, crisper and had better timing. Pacquiao continued to hammer the body of Morales, and the effects became more and more visible as the round wore on. Morales, glassy-eyed and breathing from his open mouth, was ripe for the picking, and Pacquiao knew it.

In the tenth round, Morales was wilting, obviously exhausted. He tried to jab to buy time, but couldn’t dance away from Pacquiao. Pacquiao attacked the body against the ropes in the last minute of the round, and a hard left hook to the head had a delayed effect. Morales went down, springing up reflexively after the count eight. But it was over. Pacquiao’s stalking paid off, as he rained thunder on Morales along the ropes. Morales could not fight back. The fight was stopped.

"I told you, Morales was as shot as our national hero at Luneta," declared boxing analyst and lawyer Ed Tolentino, who said that Morales was no longer the fighter he used to be. "In fact, he was worse, because he went down with the first volley in the tenth round."

Now the nation celebrates, as its starvation for heroes is assuaged. A fight well-planned, indeed.

* * *

I’d like to wish God’s greatest blessings on my son, Vincent, who is celebrating his fifteenth birthday today. He has grown to be a fine, decent, creative and loving young man. I couldn’t be prouder. You will always be God’s gift to me, son. I love you.