LOS ANGELES, Cal. ? Freddie Roach or no Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao?s preparation for his coming super-fight with undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr. started in full speed Monday here.
Unmindful of a jet lag brought about by a 13-hour direct flight from Manila last Saturday, Pacquiao woke up at 3 a.m. Monday morning, ran for 30 minutes, instead of just 15, around the Pan Pacific Park. After a brief rest, he raced to the Wild Card Boxing Gym in Hollywood.
He did the mitts with assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez, before punishing the heavy bags and the balls all in three-hour time as if time was running out on him with still two months away before the historic fight on May 2 in Las Vegas.
With Roach still in Macau, the plan was to take it easy the whole week till Saturday, two days before the chief trainer arrives here on Monday next week.
?We were supposed to do half of today?s load only, pero sabi ni Manny, kulang daw,? assistant trainer and childhood buddy Buboy Fernandez told this writer after the session. ?Sayang daw ang energy na naipoon niya noong unang leg ng camp sa General Santos City.?
?We lost a few days kasi while preparing for out trip here, kaya nasabik,? Buboy, who, along with conditioning coach Justin Fortune and another assistant trainer, Roger ?Haplas? Fernandez, reasoned out.
?It?s a good opening day. Maganda ang resulta, The gains we aimed to achieve, like testing his energy, were, I believe accomplished," Buboy assessed.
The 36-year-old belt-owner of the WBO 147-pound crown himself expressed satisfaction on the results of the L.A. Camp Day I.
?Very good,? he said before a handful of media men gathered around him in a mini press conference held at his favorite
Thai Restaurant besides he Wild Card building. ?One of the best opening days of our camp.?
?Not really, it?s just that I consider this fight to be the biggest in my 20 years as a pro so that I have to prepare hard to be able to give what boxing fans are expecting from both of us fighters,? he said by way of an answer to a query why he looked to be in a hurry.
?Besides, I will be up against a man considered by many as the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time,? he added. ?Kaya nga dapat din nating patunayan that winning eight championships in as many weight divisions is not also a joke.?
Fortune, meanwhile, announced that on Tuesday until Saturday, his sweat shop, Fortune Boxing Gym, located Sunset Ave., also in Hollywood, will be the camp?s venue for the rest of the week.
?The venue is bigger and therefore, less crowded and more convenient for Manny. Our equipment are comparable to those in Wild Card,? he explained.
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