Manny Pacquiao sparred 10 rounds against four different boxers Tuesday in Los Angeles as he continued to shake off the virus that?s left him coughing over the last few days.
Pacquiao is into his second week of 10-round sparring sessions, done on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, at the Wild Card Gym owned by his trainer Freddie Roach.
?I?ve had this cough, and colds, the last four days.
But it?s not a problem really. I even sparred 10 rounds last Saturday,? Pacquiao said in a recent interview with Sports Chat.
With just 16 days before his lightweight debut against reigning WBC champion David Diaz in Las Vegas, Pacquiao has logged a total of 91 rounds of sparring.
According to one of his trainers, Nonoy Neri, Pacquiao has been moving well in training despite the virus, which he probably caught during a recent trip to San Francisco.
As he prepared for the Marco Antonio Barrera fight last October, Pacquiao even went down with the fever and flu, but managed to shake it off as well.
Neri said Pacquiao might do 12 rounds later this week or once he starts feeling much better. They intend to log in 120 rounds of sparring until the week before the fight.
?The total is 91 rounds now. He?s okay,? said Neri in a text message from LA. The weight is neither a problem as Pacquiao now moves around at 138 to 139 lbs, just a few meals off the 135 lb limit.
Diaz has been training since April 19 in Chicago, and the latest from his camp is the entry of a Filipino sparring partner, one that only goes by the name ?Diamond.?
?He looks very much like Pacquiao,? Diaz was quoted as saying, also reminding everyone that he?s got a nice record against southpaws, ?that?s why I?m not worried at all.?
Pacquiao did his normal routine at the gym as he trained behind closed doors. He spent Tuesday evening watching Game 3 of the LA Lakers vs Boston Celtics NBA finals in his apartment.
Pacquiao said as much as he?d wanted to watch the game live at the Staples Center, he couldn?t because of the 9 p.m. curfew which he himself ordered as early as last week.
Pacquiao and Diaz will resume their promotional tour Wednesday (in LA) where another big gathering of fight fans is expected like in their previous gigs in Chicago and San Francisco.
Another one is set in a Los Angeles hotel in less than two weeks or before Pacquiao takes his traditional road trip to Las Vegas.
Pacquiao said the promotional tour put up by Top Rank to drum up the fight is quite tiring at times. For the Chicago leg, he even had to adjust his sparring days to M-W-F just to fit in.
?But we need to do it so it?s just fine,? he said.
