Pacquiao, foe to wear same gloves

LOS ANGELES — It’s both official and final: Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales will wear Winning gloves (the latter’s choice) when they trade heavy punches next week in Las Vegas.

The choice of gloves for the March 19 bout at the MGM Grand has created so much stir a week before the fight that the Nevada Athletic State Commission had to make a final decision.

The NASC headed by Marc Ratner earlier said that since there’s no title at stake, the two fighters can wear the gloves of their choice as long as they both weigh eight ounces.

Pacquiao, therefore, chose his preferred brand, the Mexican-made Cleto Reyes while Morales picked his favorite brand, the Japanese-made Winning.

Cleto Reyes is the choice of heavy punchers because of its thinner padding on the punching area while Winning is suited for boxers with less durable hands because of its thicker padding on the said area.

Murad Muhammad, however, reportedly signed a promotional contract for the use of Winning by both fighters when he was still Pacquiao’s promoter.

But Muhammad was recently replaced by Shelly Finkel. This left the Filipino champion with no choice but to honor the contract signed by Muhammad, explaining the NASC verdict.

Many believe that Morales’ promoter, Bob Arum (who owns the fight’s promotional outfit Top Rank Inc), may have had a hand in the decision.

If he was bothered, Pacquiao did not show it.

"Okay lang. Winning kung Winning. Pareho lang naman gloves yan," he said Saturday night shortly after a hearty dinner of rice and "kalderetang kambing" (goat meat) at a Goldilock’s branch in Vermont, California.

"Nasa suntok naman yan. Huwag lang may blade ‘yung gloves niya eh hindi na ako lalaban. Pero kung parehong Winning, okay lang sa akin," he added.

Pacquiao’s Filipino trainer, Buboy Fernandez, shared the opinion.

"Kahit ano diyan," he said.

Just to be sure, coach Freddie Roach had bought a pair of Winning gloves for Pacquiao to try on last week and said his fighter felt good with it as with Cleto’s.

"He both tried it on and said they’re both okay," said Roach.

Pacquiao did six rounds of sparring Saturday against two Mexican fighters and will hold his last sparring on Monday before he leaves for Las Vegas. He now has logged a total of 157 rounds with three to go.