Pacquiao-Morales IV in the making?

By NICK GIONGCO

WILL THERE be a fourth fight between ring gladiators Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales?

Although Morales badly lost the last two of his trilogy with Pacquiao, the 30-year-old Mexican revealed that there is a remote chance of facing the Filipino idol once again.

But that will only materialize once he succeeds in winning the World Boxing Council lightweight crown from David Diaz of the US in June.

Asked about the likelihood of a fourth meeting with Pacquiao in the 135-lb ranks, Morales was non-committal but gave a handful of scribes something to ponder about.

"When I was in the super-bantamweight division and decided to go up to featherweight, the fighters also went up to that weight," said Morales, who is in Manila as part of his promotional obligations with San Miguel Beer.

"Then when I went up to super-featherweight, the same thing followed. They also followed me," said Morales, who suffered two knockout losses to Pacquiao in January and November last year.
The last two years, Morales said he experienced difficulties making the super-feather limit of 130 lbs.

"But I think I will be very comfortable in lightweight," said Morales, who began fighting professionally in 1993.

But for a fourth meeting to happen, Pacquiao must first take care of unbeaten Jorge Solis on April 14 in San Antonio and rack up one or two wins against bigname super-featherweights like Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera or Joan Guzman.

While Pacquiao will sure feast on Morales as though the Mexican is a bowl of mouthwatering Sopa de Marisco El Diablo in the super-featherweight division, it remains to be seen whether the same thing’s going to happen once they square off in the lightweight class.