Manny Pacquiao shadow boxes earlier this week at the IBA gym in Las Vegas in preparation for his WBC super featherweight title bout against Erik Morales at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday. Pacquiao hopes to avenge a March 19 loss to Morales. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Before his super featherweight fight on March 19 with Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao was, by his own admission, a troubled young man.

A hero in his native Philippines, Pacquiao should have been on top of the world as he prepared to fight Morales for what was to have been the largest purse of his career. But the ordinarily carefree Pacquiao was extremely stressed as the days wound down and the first Morales fight neared.

The MGM Grand had prepared a large suite for him, but it was commandeered by his promoter, Murad Muhammad. Muhammad stayed in the suite and ushered Pacquiao into a small one-bedroom suite he had to share with eight other people.

Pacquiao was about to file a lawsuit against Muhammad in which he alleged the promoter had bilked him out of much of his earnings. Word of the forthcoming lawsuit had leaked out and Pacquiao was being badgered about it as he made his final preparations.

He fretted over a large tax bill he would have to pay because part of his lawsuit accused his managers of failing to pay his taxes.

And then he was forced to wear a different brand of boxing gloves than he ordinarily used. Muhammad agreed to Morales' request to wear Winning gloves without checking with Pacquiao or trainer Freddie Roach. Pacquiao said the gloves didn't fit comfortably and Roach said they were "pillows" that negated Pacquiao's edge in punching power.

All of those things combined to leave Pacquiao a distracted and aimless athlete who, even though he fought hard, failed to reach the level he had in past fights.

"Very hard to focus," Pacquiao said. "Very hard."

Morales won a unanimous decision, winning seven of the 12 rounds on all three cards, in a bout in which Pacquiao didn't show the explosiveness that he had previously.

But things are different with Pacquiao these days as he prepares for a rematch with Morales on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Muhammad is out, replaced by Gary Shaw, who arranged a luxurious suite for Pacquiao at the Wynn Las Vegas. He settled his lawsuit with Muhammad and made peace with the Internal Revenue Service.

IRS agent Cecile Guantze attended Wednesday's news conference and arranged a deal with promoters to take the correct withholding from the purses of both fighters.

Guantze was so pleased that as promoter Bob Arum recognized her sitting in the audience, she said, "This is the best fight the IRS has had." That prompted Arum to crack, "Anything to close the budget gap."

And Pacquiao, who spent much of his time on the dais with a smile creasing his face as Morales' supporters in the back of the room kept shouting "Viva, Mexico!", didn't miss his chance to wisecrack.

"Thank you to the press, the media, all my supporters and especially the IRS," a beaming Pacquiao said as the room erupted in laughter.

The smile on Pacquiao's face translates to performance in Roach's mind. And one of the biggest reasons for the smile is that Shaw negotiated a deal allowing Pacquiao to wear Reyes gloves.

Both pair of gloves weigh the same, but the filling is made of different materials and is distributed differently.

Reyes gloves are known in the industry as "puncher's gloves." Boxers who have problems with their hands tend to wear Winning because the Winning gloves offer more protection.

Morales shrugged at the talk of the gloves. He wore several brands of gloves in training, but will wear Winning on Saturday. But when asked what impact the gloves had on the first fight, Morales didn't hesitate.

"Nothing," he said. "No factor."

And Pacquiao didn't disagree. He refused to blame the gloves for his loss in the first fight, which likely would have been the 2005 Fight of the Year were it not for the May 7 epic between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo.

But Pacquiao was obviously thrilled to have his familiar equipment back.

"There is nothing to worry about and nothing to adjust to," Pacquiao said. "I just have to think about the fight. Finally, I can focus on the fight."