Pacquiao Update: Training, Speed, Weight, and Pure Class
Manny Pacquiao’s last match was in March of this year and his upcoming fight is on November 13 against Antonio Margarito of Mexico. This is by far one of Pacquiao’s longest absences inside
the boxing ring. One of the major concerns of every boxer is ring rust. Team Pacquiao hopes that their guy won’t have any of it.
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, will be leaving the States for the Philippines to start the eight-week training of his number one student. Actually, Manny has already made the transition
into training mode easier for the both of them as he had already loosened himself up by doing early morning jogs and light training/conditioning work at the Elorde Gym, near his workplace as a congressman.
According to many sources close to Manny Pacquiao, the boxing king still moves like he was not out of action for many months now. Jojo Sta. Rosa, Pacquiao’s aide, said that Manny is still
as fast as before and all he needs is to fine tune his timing. Since the affair is not yet part of the formal training, Pacquiao joked and kidded with the people around him which brought a lot of laughter to the place.
Team Pacquiao’s conditioning guru, Alex Ariza, had already arrived in the Philippines way before Roach but decided to rest and save all his focus and energy until the formal training starts.
Freddie Roach will bring with him the sparring mates of Pacman which he hand-picked to somehow simulate the size and style of Tijuana’s Tornado. Namely, these boxers are the undefeated
Vanes Martirosyan, Glen Tapia, Michael Medina, and Rashad Holloway who had already sparred against both Margarito and Pacquiao.
If Bob Arum was not somehow against Roach’s plans of bringing in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. into the mix, the son of the legendary Mexican boxer would have brought more substance into Pacquiao’s
training.
Nevertheless, Coach Roach is confident that he already had the right sparring mates for Pacquiao. As usual, he is confident that Pacquiao will overcome the height and reach advantages
of Margarito. Roach firmly believes that Pacquiao’s speed and skill will triumph once again.
He told Las Vegas Examiner, “We’re too fast for him and I think we’ll knock Margarito out.”
Pacquiao is around 150 lb now. He made sure that his weight is in check. Alex Ariza will have a relatively easy job of getting the champ into his most favorable fighting weight.
Pacquiao is very well aware that he needs size to handle the much bigger Margarito. Although the catchweight limit of 151 lb is already viable for Manny to achieve. He and his handlers
would like to be heavier during fight night. Pacquiao, Roach, Ariza will certainly know the optimum weight for Pacquiao in the next few weeks of training.
Manny Pacquiao is a true professional in the sport of boxing he knows that nutrition is one of the foundations of being successful. He mentioned this – in Filipino language – in his column
“Kumbinasyon” on the website, PhilBoxing.com.
With the help of Ariza, he won’t have to worry about his diet anymore. All that he’ll need to do is just gobble anything that his conditioning coach feeds him.
In an interview regarding Ricky Hatton’s drug use, Manny Pacquiao expressed his sympathies to his former opponent and his family. Pacquiao said that it would be Hatton’s family that would
suffer so Ricky should mend his ways and avoid engaging in any activity that involves illegal substances.
Manny Pacquiao also articulated his pity towards Floyd Mayweather Jr. regarding the latter’s scramble with the law.
“Though he had said some nasty things about me, I don’t take it against him. In fact, I pity him. He should fix his life this time,” Pacquiao said in his native language.
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