Long wait for Solis to make weight

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – He almost tried everything just to make the weight.

And after almost an hour, on his fourth attempt, Jorge Solis did make it, tipping the scales at 130 lbs, and making sure that his 12-round rendezvous with Manny Pacquiao pushes through Saturday at the Alamodome.

Solis flashed a big smile and faked punches at the weighing scale the moment his official weight was announced. Bob Arum, who was standing nearby, shouted some Mexican words probably saying, "We have a fight!"

By this time, Pacquiao was already holding interviews and signing autographs backstage. He had already eaten his favorite native dishes after weighing 128-lbs (a couple of lines off the 130 lb limit) on his first try.

Solis, who loves eating, almost paid the price when he weighed 130 lbs on his first attempt, raising some questions on why he, a natural featherweight, can’t make the weight in a higher division.

Solis stripped naked for a second try, surrounded by officials and team members who held up a white towel to keep him from the public’s view. Again, he failed with his 130-lbs.

The Mexican camp got off the stage, and Solis went straight to the restroom. Then he did some exercises. In less than an hour, they returned to the stage, and Solis, again naked, was back on the scales.

For the third time, he failed at 130 1/8.

A look of concern covered the Mexican’s face as he got off the stage once more. Again, he entered the restroom, but was out in just a few seconds, motioning to his handlers that there was nothing more to drop.

In one quiet corner, Solis changed into his gray sweat suit and put a blue shirt on. He asked for a gum and got one from this writer, then kept chewing, chewing and spitting, spitting.

"Calm down. Calm down," Solis was told. Then he shadow-boxed for around 15 minutes.

The next time he tipped the scales, he was at 130 lbs flat.

Pressed for answers, he said through an interpreter that he made the "big mistake" of eating breakfast.

"So I had to move around to make the weight," he said.

Asked what he saw in Pacquiao, chiseled and trouble-free at the scales, he said: "I’m not impressed with his body because it’s not about the body, but the technique and the skills."

"I’m excited to fight him. And I will win — either by knockout or decision," he said.

Notes: The multi-colored mouth-guard which Manny Pacquiao used in his second fight with Erik Morales in January last year is back in service, according to Dr. Ed dela Vega, the Los Angeles-based dentist who provides the special mouth-guard to Pinoy boxers fighting in the US – for free. "I asked him why use the old one when I just made him a new one. Manny said he feels lucky with the old one," said dela Vega…Fr. Marlon Beof, OAR, flew in from New York to watch the fight and officiate the mass scheduled Saturday and Sunday morning. Since Pacquiao’s suite at the Radisson Hotel is not that big enough, a separate function room downstairs has been reserved to hold the mass…Pacquiao and Solis will both use Cleto Reyes gloves for the fight, scheduled at 12 rounds and Nevada rules applied: no three-knockdown rule and only the referee can stop the fight. The third man on the ring is Vic Drakulich, the same referee who counted Morales out last November in Las Vegas. Judges are Larry O’Connell, Gale Van Hoy and Oren Shellenberger. Pacquiao fans are hoping that it won’t have to go to the scorecards.