Manny Pacquiao broke sweat at the Wild Card Gym in Para?aque yesterday then broke his silence on the string of controversies, which have hounded him lately.
First, why did he leave Los Angeles in a huff last Friday when everyone else thought he was there to train for the next eight weeks?
Pacquiao said it was all part of an old plan for him to train a few weeks in the Philippines, and that the whole month of September he?d be at the Wild Card Gym in LA for the final push.
And what made him decide to train here this time?
?It?s our strategy. The Wild Card in LA is getting too crowded,? he said in Filipino. ?And I feel the other camp will do some heavy scouting this time. You can?t keep the fans out all the time. They can easily pick up my strategy there.?
Pacquiao said it?s not that hard to get into the Wild Card gym with a camera especially during the fans? day.
?One of (Marco Antonio) Barrera?s people can always check the developments in my training there especially in the early part where the strategy is being worked out. We will be very strict when we return there,? he said.
Pacquiao said the moment he took the flight to Manila Friday evening after attending a press conference with Barrera, he knew that his fans will be up in arms.
?I can?t blame them. But I?ve said that after attending the press conference, which was a commitment, I was flying back to Manila. I?m asking my fans not to worry. Why would I sacrifice my training for a big fight? Why would I take my training for granted? Why would I risk losing my name? I have no plans of doing all these,? he said.
He described his Oct. 6 rematch with Barrera, the former world super-featherweight champion, as a very big fight.
?I don?t want to give Barrera a chance to get back at me. I will not give him the chance,? said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao said if he could have his way, his training for future fights will be done this way – the first part in the Philippines, probably in Manila, Cebu, Tagaytay or even Baguio, and the second one in Los Angeles.
?I train just as hard, or even harder, when I?m here in the Philippines. The truth is it?s more difficult to train here because of the heat. When you train here it feels like your entire body is burning.
?I feel different when I train here, like in my fights against Oscar Larios and Jorge Solis (where he trained for two to three weeks in Gen. Santos City). It?s double the effort. The heat makes it very difficult,? he said.
And Ara Mina, the sexy actress who is being linked to the flamboyant boxer?
?I really feel sad that she is being dragged in all these. I feel ashamed. And I can?t even call her to apologize. I?m really sorry for her. We have a movie coming up. That?s all. This controversy has affected too many people,? said Pacquiao.
It was almost 1 p.m. when Pacquiao arrived at the gym yesterday, and it didn?t take long before he got up the ring with his trainer Buboy Fernandez. The session began with a few rounds of shadow boxing.
In just a few minutes, Pacquiao fans had cramped the entrance to the well-kept gym, some of them watching quietly, with cellfone cameras on hand, while others cheered each time the flamboyant fighter unleashed his fury.
The power, but not the speed, yet, was there. At one point, a perfect jab-hook-straight combination by Pacquiao sent one of the mitts held by Fernandez flying almost out of the ring. They did six rounds of mitts.
Some more minutes on the speed-ball and the ropes followed. Pacquiao, in his flaming ?No Fear? training gear, capped the 90-minute workout with a few hundred sit-ups. He normally does a thousand a day.
The day started at 7 a.m. with a 30-minute run inside a subdivision in Sta. Rosa, Laguna where Pacquiao recently purchased a stylish eight-bedroom house.
