LOS ANGELES-Manny Pacquiao just sizzled hotter than the 100 degree Fahrenheit 30-year highs which was registered Monday here.
Entering the last week of serious training, Pacquiao was just too hot to handle as he sparred for eight rounds with two sparring partners, giving everyone a sneak peak of his razor-sharp reflexes and preparedness for his May 8 battle with Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez for the IBF and WBA featherweight belts.
“(He’s just) too sharp,” whispered Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach to strength and conditioning coach Justine Fortune, after the Filipino gave a neat boxing lesson to super-featherweight Raymundo Beltran, who weighed seven pounds heavier and two inches taller than Pacquiao.
With three more days of sparring left, Pacquiao impressed everyone with his speed, accuracy and strength as he pummeled Beltran for six rounds. Speedy Jorge Diaz did the first two rounds and likewise got tagged mercilessly.
“This guy is good (Beltran) but he could not just hit him (Pacquiao) today,” said Roach, who happily saw every detail of instruction being put to the letter by his ward.
Pacquiao tipped the scales at an unofficial 130 pounds on Saturday, four over the 126-pound limit, but Roach and the rest of Team Pacquiao dismissed it as negligible, noting that the Filipino has been eating regular meals.
Against Beltran, Pacquiao was just oozing with confidence and finesse, moving as smooth as silk but hitting like a sledgehammer, forcing big man trainer Macka Foley to declare, “best fighter in the world, Manny Pacquiao!” Foley added with a grin, “I’ll take all bets.”
Pacquiao threw one-two combinations that exploded when they hit their target, even as he wove, bobbed and evaded almost all of Beltran’s punches.
The 26-year-old Pacquiao continued to impress other members of Team Pacquiao including business manager Rod Nazario, trainer Buboy Fernandez, Lito Mondejar and Frank Nazario, when he used the ropes as a slingshot to evade an onrushing Beltran. A quick sidestep to the right threw Beltran off-balance even as a perfectly placed short right dug into his opponent’s liver.
Another speed, power and technique highlight included a final round maneuver that completely befuddled Beltran who was on the offensive, catching Pacquiao on the ropes. Using a well-polished footwork, the “Pac Man” suddenly employed a smooth pivot and, in a split second, was on the offensive, throwing combinations against a pinned opponent trying to escape from the same position a moment back.
After the sparring session, Roach watched intently every move Pacquiao made, fine-tuning and letting Pacquiao remember other important details of how to neutralize Marquez’s power and his potent right.
“I think he is now in a better shape than when he fought (Marco Antonio) Barrera,” said Roach, who added, “We are where we are supposed to be (in training).”
Roach, however acknowledged that the HBO-telecast fight could be a more difficult battle than the Barrera encounter because of Marquez’s style. The 44-year-old Roach also said that on Wednesday, Pacquiao will spar for six rounds and four rounds on Friday, tapering off from the heavy grind.
“We will break camp on Monday, probably spar for four more rounds and we will then proceed to Las Vegas,” said Roach. Tuesday and Thursday, Roach would still work with the mitts to finally perfect their game plan.
Fortune, who said that Pacquiao would be faster and more prepared than ever before, gave Pacquiao 290 small beatings of a round wooden baton in the solar plexus to desensitize the nerve endings as well as to strengthen the muscles in that area, a practice he learned from Muay Thai fighters.
Pacquiao, the General Santos native, ended the two-hour practice with a 30-minute dip in the Vagabond Inn mini swimming pool and recalled childhood memories when he used to swim in the clear seas of the city.
“I am ready,” said Pacquiao, who vowed to give everything for God, country and his family.
