LOS ANGELES ? The sun was already up Saturday but the weather remained icy when Manny Pacquiao came out of nowhere to begin his morning roadwork at the Pan Pacific Park in preparation for this Saturday?s big fight with Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao was joined in the run by a couple of guys and the fighter?s pet Pacman, a Jack Russell breed of dog that he brought along for the roadwork at the Pan Pacific Park, a stone?s throw away from his apartment unit at The Palazzo.
As soon as Pacquiao gained speed, he let Pacman loose and the toy dog ran at full throttle, a characteristic that best typifies his master.
Pacquiao made three full rounds then shadow-boxed at the starting point, discussed strategy with training assistant Buboy Fernandez then mingled with fans and friends shortly after he finished doing his callisthenics under the strict supervision of Eric Brown, an understudy of trainer Freddie Roach, and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
During the course of his shadow-boxing, he chatted with Manila-based scribes who covered his every move during the morning workout and gladly told them that he is down to 148 lbs, just one pound above the agreed weight limit of 147 lbs (welterweight).
“I feel really good,” Pacquiao said as some members of his team, composed of men who drive, carry his bags and do chores for him surround him as though he was a circus freak.
“You have to counter De La Hoya,” said Pacquiao, his punches flailing away like poisoned arrows through the cold air.
“You have to be careful and watch out for his left hook. You have to get inside and throw as many punches as possible then get out,” said Pacquiao, who later exchanged pleasantries with his friends and even posed for pictures with Spanish-speaking joggers.
De La Hoya?s left hook.
That?s the punch that Roach is wary of and it is that one blow that the 48-year-old trainer says “is capable of knocking you out.”
“We know what to do to get away from that punch,” Roach said.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao will rest Sunday in preparation for his last sparring day on Monday for Las Vegas although he might show up at the park since he doesn?t want to waste a single day without sweating it out.
NOTES: The decorated 30-seater bus that Top Rank rented to bring Manny Pacquiao to Las Vegas on Monday afternoon has arrived and was parked just outside the Wild Card while the Pacman was training. But, according to Freddie Roach, Pacquiao will not ride the bus for the road trip. “I told him to do what he usually does in every fight,” said Roach. “Manny?s superstitious and he said he will just take the Lincoln Navigator and let members of his team, friends and some fans to use it”? Pacquiao will be billeted at the The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, site of his last three wins, while De La Hoya will check in at the MGM Grand? The two fighters will be given formal arrival rites on Tuesday with Pacquiao scheduled at 11:30 am at Mandalay Bay and De La Hoya at 12 noon at the MGM Grand. The next day, a press conference will be held, while a round-table chat with writers is set for Thursday. The weigh-in will be staged Friday at the Hollywood Theater inside the MGM Grand.
