MANNY Pacquiao, preparing in earnest for his showdown with International Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, pleased his training staff in a terrific closed-door training session at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
Trainer Freddie Roach, assistant trainer and former world heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, himself a southpaw like Pacquiao and a defensive specialist, and training expert Alex Ariza, were involved in the workout along with Filipinos Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri.
In an overseas telephone conversation with www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports, Ariza said Roach closed down the gym. “Only those directly associated with boxing were allowed in. There was nobody else in there.”
Aside from the training staff, the only others present were Pacquiao’s sparring partners and their trainers, which, Ariza said, helped the Pacman “put on his best performance we have seen yet.”
Pacquiao sparred a total of nine rounds beginning with undefeated lightweight Urbano Antillon (25-0, 18 KOs), who crushed his younger brother Bobby in one round and is currently ranked no. 1 by the World Boxing Council.
He then went three rounds with undefeated light welterweight Hector Serrano (8-0, 3 KOs) from Huntington Park, California and wound up going three more rounds with former sparring partner David Rodela (12-1-2, 6 KOs), who has won 10 and drawn one in his last 11 fights. Rodela, a super featherweight, is known for his quickness.
Ariza said both Roach and Moorer were clearly impressed. “Pacquiao did everything to the T according to the game-plan drawn up by Roach and Moorer. Pacquiao’s conditioning and work-rate is unbelievable. There were no distractions.”
Newly crowned WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero, who won the title Pacquiao relinquished, continued his undefeated streak with a second- round demolition of the aging Antonio Pitalua to register his 25th knockout victory.
Source: manilastandardtoday.com
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