THE LAST time he fought, Bobby Pacquiao was expectedly overshadowed by his illustrious brother Manny that he did not only make the weight limit of 130 lbs but also saw his unblemished record on American soil get tarnished by the rugged Mexican Hector Velazquez.
“All the focus was on Manny at that time that we all forgot that Bobby was fighting, too,” trainer non-pareil Freddie Roach said recently on Bobby’s lackluster showing two days before Manny’s Nov. 19, 2006 rubber match with Erik Morales.
So when Bobby answers the bell this Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) against Humberto Soto of Mexico at Madison Square Garden in New York, Roach expects the Filipino to be not only physically, but mentally prepared as well.
“We have tapered off in sparring and Bobby’s looking pretty good in training,” said Roach.
As a morale boost, elder brother Manny will be at ringside to cheer for his every move.
Manny is flying to the Big Apple from Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, to receive the Edward Neil Trophy (Fighter of the Year for 2006) from the Boxing Writers Association of America at the famed Copacabana nightclub in Manhattan on Friday night.
Bobby, Roach and Canadian Mike Koncz are leaving Los Angeles for New York on Tuesday in time for the press conference at the WaMu Theater inside the Garden on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Bobby will work out for the last time at the Kingsway Gym in Manhattan and the following day will troop to the Garden for the official weighin.
Soto, who is unbeaten in his last 18 fights, is heavily favored to hurdle Bobby in a bid to secure a lucrative match with Manny in October.
Bobby has been working out at the Wild Card in Hollywood since mid-April.
