Pacquiao-Morales on; stiff fines for excess weight

ERIK Morales will have to pay Manny Pacquiao $500,000 for every pound the Mexican goes over the 130-lb super featherweight limit for their third encounter on Nov. 18. And this goes for the Filipino fight icon, too. This is the major clause in the contract for the super fight, set in Las Vegas, which has been finalized based on a report by Fightnews.com on its website Tuesday. The contract includes landmark clauses that, according to the famed boxing website, “will no doubt be the catalyst for future mega-fight contracts." Morales’ weight has been an issue ever since he agreed to exploit a rematch clause following a 10th-round technical knockout loss to Pacquiao last January. Several boxing experts have cast doubts on Morales’ ability to make the weight, the latest being Rafael Mendoza, the adviser of Mexican Oscar Larios, who lost to Pacquiao in a fight held recently at the Araneta Coliseum. Mendoza pitched Larios as an alternative to Morales, saying that the Mexican ring icon will never make the grade. “He will die if he fights Pacquiao at 130," said Mendoza. “He will have to cut both legs off." A key stipulation in the contract is that if Morales exceeds 132 lb, Pacquiao has the option to either accept or decline the fight. But Pacquiao has raised eyebrows by saying he will not back off from a fight against an overweight Morales. “I will fight him even if he comes in as a heavyweight," Pacquiao was quoted as saying. Pacquiao, though, may be putting himself at risk if he decides to fight Morales. And he does not have to look far ahead in the weight divisions for an example. In the second of what was supposed to be three bouts between top lightweights Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, the latter failed to make the weight but Corrales still fought to cash his paycheck. Corrales ended up getting knocked out by the heavier Castillo. In their third match last June, when Castillo failed to make the weight anew, Corrales wisely ditched the fight. Shelley Finkel, Pacquiao’s manager who wove the stipulation for excess weight into the contract, said he just wanted to protect his ward and cited the Castillo-Corrales case as his example. - INQ7.Net