Pacquiao plunges into training

As he had promised to his legions of fans, Manny Pacquiao immediately plunged into training and showed up at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday in Manila) to formally kick off his buildup for the biggest fight of his storied career on May 2.

Wild Card guru Freddie Roach had wanted Pacquiao to report for training camp as he badly felt that there’s no more time for the Filipino to take it nice and easy since he will be up against a very dangerous foe in Ricky Hatton of England.

Apart from the regulars – Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri – there was a new face at the gym and Roach pointed to ex-world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer as the man in charge in his absence.

Moorer will take the lead role in Pacquiao’s gym work for one week starting this Monday as Roach will travel to Manchester, England to attend to the corner of British lightweight star Amir Khan, who fights Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico, on March 14.

According to Los Angeles-based orthodontist Ed De La Vega, who customizes the mouthguard of Manny Pacquiao and a bevy of other marquee Filipino fighters, Pacquiao worked out a sweat doing what he normally does while in training camp.

Pacquiao, who arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon after a whirlwind promotional tour in London and Manchester over the weekend, shadow-boxed for two rounds and did the punch mitts routine for three rounds aside from toying with the speedball, hitting the double-end bag, skipping rope and doing abdominal exercises.

"It wasn’t really light but it was not heavy either," said Pacquiao’s adviser Mike Koncz, who saw the entire training session.

Roach will return to the States shortly after the Khan-Barrera clash to set up the stage for Pacquiao’s sparring sessions that will likely begin on March 17.

Roach said Pacquiao appears to be in a much better physical shape than Hatton.

"Manny’s just a bit over 150 lbs, while Hatton is heavier based on what I saw when we were in England," said Roach.

When Pacquiao stood side-by-side with Hatton, his face appeared a bit puffed up and his biceps were bulging as though they were English sourdough loaves.

Still, Hatton remains upbeat that by fight night, he will be in perfect condition as he is currently undergoing training under master strategist and disciplinarian Floyd Mayweather Sr.

Source: mb.com.ph