Morales to Roach: Shut up

Erik Morales, the soft-spoken former three-time world champion who normally does his talking in the ring with his fists, yesterday lashed back at Freddie Roach, who recently called the Mexican warrior a loud-mouth and nasty guy who has shown no respect for Manny Pacquiao.

In what could be the first of a series of salvos hyping up the much-anticipated third and final showdown between Pacquiao and Morales on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas, Morales claimed he felt insulted by Roach’s recent comments and told the American trainer to mind his own business and instead get his ward ready for the war.

"I respect all fans and it is insulting to me that Roach wants to put words in my mouth that I have never spoken," said Morales in an interview with Fightnews.com. "If he can’t wait to see Manny try to beat me again, just tell him that Nov 18 will be here soon enough. In the meantime, he should stay out of my business and get his guy ready for another war."

Roach recently said that "Morales is a nasty guy, who has spoken very bad of the Filipino people." Pacquiao’s coach and trainer added that he "can’t wait to beat Morales again."

"I have never insulted the Filipino people in my life," said Morales. "On the contrary, I believe that they are as well as the Mexican fans who are very loyal to their boxers and have a well-grounded knowledge of boxing and they support the sport like few others."

Morales stressed that he has never put Pacquiao’s greatness as a warrior in doubt either, saying "I have mentioned in some interviews what I believe are his weaknesses, but I have never said that I don’t respect him, because that is not true, I do respect him as a fighter."

About his reported excuses for his loss to Pacquiao earlier this year, Morales said that just like Pacquiao, whom he said also had his opinion on why he lost in their first faceoff, Morales said he also has an opinion on why he lost to Pacquiao last January. "For one, I was overconfident after beating him so easily the first time and two, I made some mistakes in my training camp that I will not make for this third fight," said Morales.

"It is sometimes sad to see former fighters who are now trainers wanting to take center stage in a big fight, because they were never good enough to be in a big fight. Now they just want to grab the spotlight as trainers at the expense of their fighters," said Morales.

"I don’t know Roach personally but if he can say something about me without knowing me or what I’m all about, then I know that he is not someone that I would like much as a person either," added Morales.