With a little more than two weeks left before his first fight since his retirement in April, and with the Philippines Senate now in recess, Manny Pacquiao is winding down his training camp in the Philippines and preparing to fly to the U.S., where he will spend the last few weeks training and acclimating at Freddie Roach?s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif.
Pacquiao is ending his short-lived retirement to fight WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs) in a pay-per-view battle (Top Rank PPV, 9 p.m. ET) on Nov. 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
More important, Pacquiao will be able to leave behind a breakneck pace that has him working as a first-term senator during the day and training with Roach after his work in the Senate is finished.
A typical day for Pacquiao goes something like this: the 37-year-old eight division world champion gets a 5 a.m. wakeup call, followed by a morning run of several miles at 6. He follows that with a grueling workout with strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
Then he showers, reads the Bible, eats breakfast and heads off in a business suit to his legislative duties in Manila.
After that, Sen. Pacquiao ? he never missed a senate session ? arrives at the gym at 5 or 6 p.m. for a three-hour workout with Roach and his sparring partners.
Philippine boxing icon-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao delivers a speech to the Senate in August. Photo by Ted Aljob, AFP/Getty Images)
He finishes his day with dinner at home followed by a game of chess, and finally, sleep, usually of the deep variety.
?It is all about discipline and time management,? said Pacquiao (58-6-2. 38 KOs). ?Boxing is my passion and public service is my calling. I will continue to travel both roads as long as I can do both effectively. I dedicate the fights I take on to my fans and my countrymen. They have kept me in their prayers. I fight to bring glory to the Philippines whether I?m wearing boxing gloves or standing on the floor of the senate.?
Roach says Pacquiao?s energy and ability to deal with multiple distractions around him never ceases to amaze him.
?I have been training Manny for 15 years and even after all this time he still amazes me,? said Roach a seven-time trainer of the year. ?He?s pushing 38 and he still outworks every fighter I?ve ever worked with. He?s had a killer schedule during this training camp but it?s been really productive. You?d have to see it to believe it.?
Bob Arum, Pacquiao?s longtime promoter, has seen it with his own eyes, and says the future hall of famer is the only person you can read about in both the news and sports sections.
?When Manny is inducted into the Hall of Fame, his plaque will say he was boxing?s only eight-division world champion, but that doesn?t even begin to scratch the surface of what makes him so special,? Arum said. ?He is literally a national treasure who has brought great honor to the sport and to his country.?
