Columnist Jeff Haney: Morales not far from Pacquiao’s mind

Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005 | 9:47 a.m.

Jeff Haney's boxing column runs Thursday. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.

Shortly after losing a close but unanimous decision to Erik Morales in March at the MGM Grand, super featherweight Manny Pacquiao and his camp began talking about a rematch.

Fans who witnessed the action-filled 12-rounder had to like the rematch buzz. And Pacquiao has demonstrated he has Morales on his mind by remaining at 130 pounds rather than opting to drop to 126, probably a more natural fighting weight for him.

The only question was whether the two would get back into the ring together right away, or take interim fights against other opponents to set the stage for a rematch.

It turned out to be the latter. But Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, even while stressing he is not taking anyone lightly, acknowledged his desire for another shot at Morales.

"The one fight (in between) is good for us," Roach said this week on a conference call. "Right after this fight, we'll take a week off and then go into Morales mode."

Pacquiao (39-3-2, 30 knockouts) and Morales (48-2, 34 KOs) face separate opponents in scheduled 12-rounders Saturday, Sept. 10, at Staples Center in Los Angeles in a doubleheader to be televised by HBO.

Pacquiao meets Hector Velazquez (41-10, 30 KOs), and Morales fights 1996 U.S. Olympian Zahir Raheem (26-1, 18 KOs).

It's the first time back in the ring for Morales and Pacquiao since Morales won their March 19 brawl by scores of 115-113 on all three judges' cards.

"It's good because it gets him back in the gym, back into the mode of training for a big fight," Roach said of Pacquiao, a fiery competitor not only in boxing but also in ventures such as billiards and cockfighting in his native Philippines. "... Get him out of the pool hall a little bit."

By his own admission, Pacquiao was plagued by a series of distractions leading to his fight against Morales. He was having disagreements, some of them public, on various financial issues with his then-promoter, Murad Muhammad. Another minor firestorm flared up surrounding the type of gloves the fighters were required to wear in the bout. (In a rematch, Pacquiao would be permitted to choose his brand of gloves, Roach said: "It's in the contract.")

Since then, Pacquiao has aligned himself with promoter Gary Shaw and says any concerns outside of the ring have been cleared up.

"Last fight there were a lot of distractions in my mind," Pacquiao, 26, said. "(Now) there are no distractions. I'm just worried about my opponent. I'm very focused on my training right now."

To ensure Pacquiao maintains his concentration, Roach has closed his gym in Los Angeles to the throngs of fans, many of them fellow Filipinos, who gathered to watch Pacquiao work out as he prepared to face Morales in March.

"It was nice having them in the gym, but ... Manny was performing for them more than for me," Roach said. "I wanted him working on technique and so forth. ... They've respected it. They realize it's for his benefit and they want Manny to win."

Against Velazquez -- as well as in a second match with Morales -- Pacquiao needs to throw more jabs and body shots, Roach said.

"In the last fight, the game plan went out the window," Roach said. "Manny relied on pure guts. ...

"That reflects on me too. It's my job to make Manny a better fighter. ...

"Like me and Manny talked about, 126 is probably Manny's best weight -- he makes 126 easily. But he wants Morales, so he's sticking at 130. He definitely wants Morales."

Gold Coast card

Super lightweights "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis (13-0-2, 6 KOs) of Atlantic City and Marteze "Two Sweet" Logan (20-17-2, 5 KOs) of Covington, Tenn., clash in the headliner of an eight-bout card presented by Guilty Boxing on Friday night at the Gold Coast.

Arnaoutis is ranked No. 4 by the WBO, No. 12 by the IBF and No. 24 by the WBC.

The card also includes two Las Vegas fighters, super featherweight Rodrigo Aranda and bantamweight Juan Carlos Santiago.

Doors open at the Nevada Ballroom at 6 p.m. with the first fight scheduled for 7. Tickets are $25 and $35.

On the air

HBO2 (Cox cable channel 201) will replay four fights this weekend: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Fernando Vargas (2002), 9 a.m. Sunday; Floyd Mayweather vs. Diego Corrales (2001), 9:55 a.m. Sunday; Lennox Lewis vs. Vitali Klitschko (2003), 11:45 p.m. Sunday; and Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward I (2002), 12:15 a.m. Monday.