Pacquiao weirded by weigh-in difference
12/06/2008 | 05:34 PM
MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao was sure he was at 146 pounds for the final weigh-in.
So it surprised him to see he came out four pounds lighter.
Pacquiao tipped the scales at 142 pounds, way off the weight he and his team were expecting.
"Yes, a little bit of a surprise. Seems the scale got calibrated," Freddie Roach told Manila-based journalists inside the press room on Friday after the weigh-in.
Shortly after the weigh-in, Pacquiao went back to his room and used a different scale. He came in at 145.5 pounds, the same weight he had in the morning after breakfast, according to Roach.
Pacquiao was amazed at the difference, disclosing the night before and just an hour before the official weigh-in that he both checked in at 146 pounds.
"I didn't do anything to reduce weight, so I don't know why I came in at 142?" Pacquiao said. "It's hard to be suspicious but as you can see, there's a difference between how I weighed out there and here."
Pacquiao said if there was a four-pound difference between his two "weigh-ins", it could be the same for de la Hoya. "So does that mean Oscar was at 149 pounds?"
A clause in the contracts signed by both Pacquiao and de la Hoya will have de la Hoya paying a $3-million penalty for every excess pound over 147 pounds.
Pacquiao said he didn't want to make a big deal out of the situation. "I don't want to make that an excuse for whatever happens."
Roach agreed.
"Maybe the scale … I'm not sure. But I'm not accusing anything (sic)," said Roach, who incidentally, also got a positive response from the Nevada State Athletic Commission later in the day, allowing the use of one-inch tape for the boxer's hands instead of two inches.
"But it really doesn't matter to me," he added. "The fight's on. The fight's here." - GMANews.TV
