Weight loss to diminish Erik’s power

Even if Erik Morales manages to tip the scales at 130 pounds at the weigh-in the day before his fight against Manny Pacquiao, he won’t be as terrible as his moniker suggests when the bell finally rings to signal the start of their 12-round rubber match at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night (Sunday morning, Manila).

Former World Boxing Council secretary-general Rudy Salud said the other day the drop in weight from 142 pounds a month ago will lessen Morales’ power and make it easier for Pacquiao to mow down the Mexican.

Salud said from his experience as Gerry Peñalosa’s manager, he saw how losing weight diminishes power particularly when a fighter outgrows his division.

"In the three title fights where I was Gerry’s manager, he always made the 115-pound limit because of a weight program supervised by (nutritionist) Dr. (Sanirose) Orbeta," said Salud. "Gerry had outgrown the superflyweight division but forced himself to go down from 118 to 115. The three pounds made a lot of difference, not in his stamina but in his power. That was when I realized when a fighter outgrows his division, it’s time to move on."

Salud said Morales has become a natural 135 or 140-pounder so that scaling down to 130 pounds will take away the sting in his punches for sure.

In contrast, Pacquiao has encountered no difficulty making the 130-pound limit and will enter the ring at full strength.

Salud said Dr. Orbeta prescribes a loss of up to only seven pounds in 30 days with "sodium manipulation" for a fighter to retain the maximum extent of his power. Morales must lose 12 pounds in 30 days to make the weight limit. And since he hasn’t fought since losing to Pacquiao last January, the speculation is he ballooned to 165 pounds before hiring seven conditioning experts from the Velocity Sports Performance Gym in Los Angeles to manage his weight reduction.

"Morales may make the limit but his power will be considerably less," said Salud. "Manny never had a problem taking Morales’ punches at full strength. What more if Morales isn’t as strong? Manny will walk all over him. Barring any accident, Manny should score a fantastic victory. I see Manny knocking out Morales anytime after the fourth round."

But Salud said in the ring, anything can happen and if Morales lands a lucky punch, Pacquiao could be in trouble. The critical rounds are one to four because Morales will be fresh at the onset. As the fight progresses, Salud said Morales will become progressively weaker and Pacquiao, exponentially stronger.

Salud said he has carefully studied Morales’ style in his trilogy against Marco Antonio Barrera when "El Terrible" was at his peak.

"I think Manny is far ahead of Morales in terms of ability to win," said Salud. "Manny showed he has learned to be scientific in the (Oscar) Larios fight. Morales was never as good as Manny in his prime. Morales’ problem is he’s no longer in his prime while Manny is now at his best."

Salud said in their first fight last year, Pacquiao battled a lot of adversities but Morales could only win a close decision.

"Manny crammed for that fight which is why he had leg cramps," recalled Salud. "His knuckles were swollen because of oversparring as he trained for only 28 days. He was butted by Morales and suffered a cut. There was the Murad (Muhammad) distraction and the controversy about the gloves. Still, Morales won by just a round. In their second fight, it was no-contest. I think Manny should be able to dispose of Morales handily in their third fight."

Salud said he’ll catch the fight on the live Solar satellite feed at the Rockwell theater in Makati with his family and assistant George Alcantara on Sunday morning after taking breakfast and a valium. That was where Salud watched Pacquiao beat Morales and Larios and he calls it his "lucky theater."