Were scales rigged?

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao couldn’t understand how he could scale 142 pounds in Friday afternoon’s weigh-in for his fight against Oscar de la Hoya when only a few minutes earlier, he tipped in at 146 in his hotel room.

Dr. Allan Recto and conditioning coach Alex Ariza checked Pacquiao’s weight when he woke up at 9 that morning and he scaled 145. Then Pacquiao ate a hard-boiled egg and drank water to stay loose until he left his Mandalay Bay 61st floor suite for the 10-minute drive to MGM Grand.

De la Hoya tipped the scales at 145, two below the catchweight limit of 147. It was previously agreed that the fighters would pay a penalty of $3 million for every pound over.

One of Pacquiao’s advisers Rex (Wakee) Salud said he was shocked when the weights were announced.

“How can Manny lose four pounds going from his hotel room to where the weigh-in was?” he wondered. “Something’s wrong. Maybe, they rigged the scales because De la Hoya couldn’t make the limit and made adjustments. They saved De la Hoya $6 million in fines.”

Salud said Pacquiao should’ve weighed in at 146, as planned. If the scales were tampered, De la Hoya could’ve weighed 149.

“De la Hoya looked a little gaunt,” said Dr. Recto who monitors Pacquiao’s health. “Alex (Ariza) noticed his eyes were a little sunken. If De la Hoya forced himself to lose too much weight, he’ll come in to fight Manny dehydrated.”

Another Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz said he didn’t think the scales were tampered.

“That’s hard to do with the Nevada State Athletic Commission supervising the weigh-in,” said Koncz. “Besides, I don’t think the Commission would do De la Hoya a favor. It’s possible Manny’s scales in his hotel room weren’t accurate. If we felt something was wrong, Freddie (Roach) and Buboy (Fernandez) who were with Manny on stage should’ve protested right there and then.”

Dr. Recto said Pacquiao himself was surprised by the weight results. But he shrugged it off, saying, “kung talagang mali, partida na lang ‘yan ni De la Hoya - bahala na siya sa Diyos.” Pacquiao said he’ll fight De la Hoya, no matter what.

A Pacquiao friend Chris Aquino said the weigh-in looked like a stage-managed show by De la Hoya’s camp.

“They brought in a comedian George Lopez as master of ceremonies to distract the fans,” said Aquino. “Traditionally, the main eventers are weighed in before the preliminary fighters but this time, they were last. Why? They called in big-name fighters from Golden Boy on stage and (Bernard) Hopkins got on the microphone to taunt Manny.

That was unfair. Manny, Freddie and Buboy were by themselves on one side of the stage and De la Hoya’s people crowded on their side.”

Businessman Hermie Esguerra, who flew in from Manila to witness the Dream Match, said Hopkins showed a lack of class in pretending to challenge the Filipino crowd in the audience. Hopkins predicted De la Hoya, his business partner, to win by a knockout in the late rounds and said, “if you have any problem with that, see me outside.”

Pacquiao’s chief of staff Jayke Joson was concerned about the weight tampering but said, it won’t alter the outcome.

“We still expect Manny to come in at 147 to 150 and De la Hoya to balloon to 155 to 160, whether or not the scales were rigged,”

said Joson. “So the weights won’t matter. Manny will

use his speed to win anyway.”