Song from Manny

LAS VEGAS — Believe it or not, Manny Pacquiao was singing a song when he walked inside his dressing room after demolishing Erik Morales in the 10th round at the Thomas and Mack Center here Saturday night.

That was how good it felt to beat a legendary Mexican fighter known for his durability. Pacquiao’s awesome display of firepower in the ring showed that Morales isn’t too durable after all.

"I did my best" were the words of the James Ingram song titled "Just Once" that Pacquiao was singing. And he meant it.

For nearly two months, Pacquiao sacrificed living without his family in training like a workhorse for Morales in Los Angeles. He knew he had to be in the best shape of his life to beat the Mexican.

Strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, who works for Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, supervised Pacquiao’s exercises. Fortune did everything and anything imaginable to whip Pacquiao into shape. He used wooden sticks to strike Pacquiao’s arms and midsection to make him more resistant to pain. He timed his early morning jogs and counted his sit-ups. He worked Pacquiao to the bone–so much so that he hit 127 1/2 pounds at the weigh-in. The limit was 130 and Pacquiao’s weight was incorrectly announced as 128 1/2 pounds.

"There was really nothing new we did on the road and in the gym," said Fortune, a former Oriental heavyweight champion from Australia. "All we did was to go up a notch or more. Manny trained harder than he ever trained before and the result was evident. He wanted to win this fight for the Philippine people and he did it. He pushed himself to the limit. He never complained. He went out to do a job and got it done."

By the way, Fortune’s claim to fistic fame was he fought former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis in 1994. Alas, Fortune was knocked out in four rounds.

Fortune, whose family still lives in Australia, is one of Roach’s trusted aides. He joined Roach, Buboy Fernandez and cutman Joe Chavez in Pacquiao’s corner for the Morales bout.

"I’ve trained in three continents, in Europe, the US and Australia and Freddie is the best trainer I’ve come across," said Fortune, quoted by writer Robert Mladinich. "Having been a fighter himself, he has immense knowledge as well as the skillful ability to always stay calm even when things aren’t going well. That sounds like an easy thing but it’s far from easy."

Another Roach disciple Eric Brown was in three-time Philippine champion Jimrex Jaca’s corner when the Negros Oriental fighter stopped Geronimo Hernandez in the first round in the Pacquiao-Morales undercard.

Edward Lura, who drove Pacquiao, his wife Jinkee and Rex (Wakee) Salud in the fighter’s brand-new Porsche Cayenne SUV from Los Angeles to Las Vegas early last week, said the secret to the victory over Morales was the new technique concocted by Roach in the gym.

The technique involved Pacquiao stepping in to throw a combination then spinning out at an angle to Morales" right to avoid a counterpunch.

It worked like a charm during the fight as Morales couldn’t find the range to reach Pacquiao as he moved back. Pacquiao was just too quick for Morales to chase down.

Roach’s gambit of attacking Morales" body paid off handsome dividends.

Because Morales had to drastically reduce to make the 130-pound limit, he gorged on food to return to his natural weight after the weigh-in.

Roach figured he still had a lot of undigested food in his stomach when the fight began.

Taking off so much weight had a draining effect on Morales and it showed in the later rounds as he lost his rhythm and timing. When Morales began to slow down in the sixth round, Pacquiao stepped up his attack.

There was never any doubt after that as to who would win the fight.

Postscript: Thanks to Solar Sports, millions of Filipinos were able to watch the Pacquiao-Morales rematch either live in SM and Rockwell theaters or on TV. Solar Sports chairman Wilson Tieng, president William Tieng, chief operating officer Peter Chanliong and vice president for finance Ronald Tieng worked the miracle to make it happen.