BOBBY PACQUIAO IN THE FIGHT OF HIS LIFE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 08 Jun 2007
Bobby Pacquiao, younger brother of Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao will be in the fight of his life when he battles tough and talented Mexican Humberto Soto at New York’s famed Madison Square Garden in explosive fight card to be telecast by Solar Sports at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday over RPN 9.
Soto who won a WBC super featherweight title eliminator over Ivan Valle on August 12 last year and then scored a smashing third round TKO over Humberto Toledo (31-4-2, 19 KO’s) last February 22 is determined to score am impressive win and set himself up for a possible fight with Manny Pacquiao with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who handles both fighters at present, likely to cash-in on the revenge angle.
But Bobby Pacquiao who lost his Continental Americas super featherweight title when he failed to make the weight for his November 16, 2006 title defense against Mexican journeyman Hector Velasquez who had earlier been demolished by his elder brother is determined to erase that stigma. He will earn the biggest purse of his life, $150,000 and will hopefully benefit from the presence of his illustrious brother and an entourage of Filipinos whose travel and other expenses he reportedly paid for as always.
Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach shares the views of his prized fighter Manny Pacquiao that Bobby has trained very hard, stayed focused and will pull off what could well be a shocking upset against the heavily favored Soto who is regarded as a dangerous opponent even for Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao promised that his clash with Soto who hasn’t lost a fight in the last five years was going to be “a great fight” and that he had “prepared very hard for it.” Bobby also claimed that Mexican fighters “bring out the best in the Pacquiao’s” in obvious reference to Manny Pacquiao’s demolition of legendary Mexicans Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik “El Terrible” Morales among others.
The 27 year old Soto has a record of 41-5-2 with 25 knockouts while Pacquiao has a comparatively less impressive 27-12-3 with 12 knockouts although he has had some big wins in the US over former world champion Kevin Kelley (4th round KO) , formner world featherweight champion Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez (controversial split decision) and against Carlos Navarro, a bizarre 7th round KO when Navarro sat on the canvas and asked the referee to count him out.
Soto himself has an eighteen fight winning streak but reportedly has trouble handling southpaws and Roach has said the moment Pacquiao sees an opening he will go for a knockout and ”take this guy (Soto) out of there.”
Top photo by Chris Farina of Top Rank.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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