Freddie Roach gives Manny Pacquiao early thumbs-up
Upon flying to the Philippines and reuniting with his star fighter Monday, Freddie Roach gave Manny Pacquiao a passing grade for his current physical and mental state.
Roach was very content with what he saw in his fighter following a two-hour workout with Pacquiao at the Elorde boxing gym in Quezon City. The two did seven rounds of mitt work.
“We had a very good start," Roach said. “We didn’t rest in between rounds. Manny already knows what to do with that guy (Margarito)."
“Pacman,” a seven-division titlist and congressman, is slated to take on the bigger Antonio Margarito on 13 November in Dallas, Texas. The bout will be for the vacant junior middleweight WBC crown, and
is expected to draw in some 70,000 fans.
Training camp for the fight kicks off officially Wednesday or Thursday for Pacquiao and his team, who will spend their time in the mountains of Baguio City until mid-October. At that point they will change
bases by heading to Los Angeles, where they will resume at Roach’s Wild Card gym until the fight.
Roach’s entourage included boxers Glen Tapia and Michael Medina, both expected to train with Pacquiao.
An initial training session had to be pushed back two hours later than scheduled due to Pacquiao being caught in traffic on the Southern Luzon Expressway. He was coming from his home in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Pacquiao admitted after training he is a bit slow and has a lot of work to do, but expects to be at the peak of his game when the time comes.
Top Rank stars Vanes Martirosyan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. will be joining the team in two weeks to spar with Pacquiao. Roach selected them specifically for their height to give Pacquiao experience with
a fighter of Margarito’s size.
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