Freddie Roach was not around when Manny Pacquiao showed up for another round of sparring at the Wild Card on Thursday afternoon.
But Roach made sure the Filipino southpaw was left to the care of an equally-competent substitute as he revs up for the March 15 rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Roach had to join Fil-Am lady puncher Ana Julaton, who had a scheduled bout at the Penchanga Casino and the 47-year-old trainer left Pacquiao in the care of long-time assistant Eric Brown.
While Brown called the shots, he was assisted in the gym work by Pacquiao?s two other training assistants, Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri, who have been with the fighter since the first day of training last Jan. 16.
“Eric is in charge whenever Freddie?s out,” said Marie, who is sometimes called The First Lady of Wild Card. “Freddie will be back here tomorrow.”
“Manny came in a bit early today and Eric was here to train with him,” she added.
Brown has been with Roach for quite some time now and he has also shared corner work with some of boxing?s very best like Amilcar Brusa, the legendary Argentine who was the chief trainer of the great middleweight champion Carlos Monzon.
Brown, who hails from Detroit, has also provided help in the corner of Pacquiao in his last few fights and he should also play a role in the Marquez rematch alongside Fernandez, Neri and possibly cutman Joe Chavez.
