HOLLYWOOD?There he was, the people?s champ, dazzling onlookers with blinding hand speed while shadow boxing, flaunting the power of his legs as he shuffled around the ring, showing just how he would utilize footwork to cut the ring into tiny, suffocating spaces and, well, smiling.
There was more than just confidence bursting from Manny Pacquiao?s sinewy limbs as he put the finishing touches on his last training day at Wild Card gym Monday before the Filipino ring icon and his huge entourage convoyed out of this glitzy Los Angeles county and rolled straight for the neon-lined streets of Las Vegas.
There was joy. And trainer Freddie Roach was happy for that.
?He?s happy, I?m happy and we are where we want to be in this last day here,? Roach said. ?Now, it?s Vegas baby.?
Pacquiao wraps up training at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles as he heads to Las Vegas with 5 days left before the megabout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.. Photo by Francis T.J. Ochoa
There was roadwork. There was sparring and there were a few more rounds of mitts and other exercises. There was all that hard work and everything. And even as Pacquiao continues tapering off for his May 2 fight date with that undefeated American bundle of flamboyance named Floyd Mayweather Jr., the eight-division champion?s energy was visibly amped up.
?I?m excited,? said Pacquiao, in a tone that made his understatement a redundancy. ?It?s a big fight. The whole world [will be] watching [this fight]. It?s the fight of the century.?
It is certainly set to be the richest fight in history and Pacquiao will go into MGM Grand with the toughest of missions: Deal the brash Mayweather his first professional defeat. To accomplish that would require strict adherence to a fight plan cooked up by his corner to counter the craftsmanship of arguably one of the best boxers of all time.
That, and so much more?including a throwback to the days when Pacquiao was a ball of limitless energy that manifested itself in ripping, unrepentant, combinations and a beautifully brutal mix of speed and power.
Thankfully, Pacquiao knows exactly what it will take to beat Mayweather.
?Just focus and killer instinct,? said Pacquiao, the latter an urgent need considering the knock he had received from critics over its supposed disappearance in the last few fights.
Those who have watched him train for the Mayweather bout swear that trait has resurfaced.
?I was among the first to say before that Manny had lost his killer instinct,? said former world champion Gerry Penalosa. ?But now, watching him train, you can see a lot of the old Manny back.?
It did not take much for Pacquiao to reawaken his killer mode.
?Just thinking, imagining my mode before, trying to get back my mode before when I fought [Miguel] Cotto, [Ricky] Hatton [and Oscar] De La Hoya,? he explained.
That?s the Pacquiao that Roach needs on fight night. If that Pacquiao shows up, Roach believes Mayweather is screwed.
?He?d better not show up,? he warned.
The seven-time trainer of the year has ?spies? in Las Vegas who spoke of trouble brewing in the Mayweather camp?missed training sessions, difficulty handling sparring partners?but those unverified pieces of information don?t seem to have distracted Pacquiao from the task at hand and the work that needs to be put in to succeed.
Pacquiao, based on the hard work he has put in training, assured people that they will see one thing at MGM Grand on May 2.
?The best Manny Pacquiao,? he vowed.
But of course. The fans demand it. A fight of this magnitude demands it. And, more importantly, this daunting mission?against a formidable foe?demands it.
