LOS ANGELES — FOLLOWING REPORTS that the enemy has a new counter-plot, Manny Pacquiao on Saturday unveiled the exclusive lethal blow, earlier likened to a bomb, which he polished during another no-break 14-round punching drill before familiar faces at the Wild Card gym here.
After a strict screening of guests, trainer Freddie Roach allowed Pacquiao to throw killer punches openly, with no let-up, unlike during media-day Thursday when the so-called bomb was kept under wraps.
Broken down, the special weapon is the culminating shot, not unlike a steel dagger, dug into the tip of the rib cage.
In its singularity, it’s safe to say that the weapon is not actually a single blow, but a crushing combo of big, sharp punches. It could freely be called a liver breaker.
“Well, the great thing with Manny is that he seems to be even hungrier than he was before,” Roach explained.
That means, Roach added, that Pacquiao’s fabled warrior’s appetite has not diminished despite his success and the superb form he has achieved through months of intensive training.
Pacquiao, who had another gruelling run through the hilly Griffith Park yesterday morning before the afternoon workout, returns to the gym for more rounds of sparring today.
Roach would not elaborate on when they first plotted the bomb-like blow, which was not in the Pacquiao artillery in his trilogy against Erik Morales.
“I don’t care if Barrera uses dirty tactics,” Pacquiao said. “The referee will take care of that.”
Pacquiao did a total of 27 rounds in various gym work, topped by the 14-round non-stop punching drill, up from the 23 rounds Thursday.
He meets Marco Antonio Barrera, whom he stopped four years ago, in a rematch in Las Vegas on Oct. 6.
Meanwhile, the undefeated Edwin Valero, WBA 130-lb champion, picked Barrera over Pacquiao in an interview with the Spanish paper Esto.
Valero, who worked as Barrera sparmate in Guadalajara, said Barrera is faster than ever and will most likely get the decision.
Valero, a slow puncher, also described Pacquiao as awkward.
There were unconfirmed reports Valero had knocked out Barrera in one of their sparring sessions.
