UNABLE to get Manny Pacquiao immediately back for training in the United States, American trainer Freddie Roach has arrived in the country so he can begin training the Filipino boxing champion.
Tony Bernal, the director of Pacquiao’ latest movie Lisensiyadong Kamao, said Roach was scheduled to arrive in Manila Tuesday then would head immediately to the boxer’s hometown of General Santos City.
Bernal said he learned of the trainer’s arrival when he called Pacquiao up to invite him for an engagement, but the boxer declined, saying he was waiting for Roach to arrive.
Set to leave Monday, “PacMan” reportedly decided to stay an extra week and said he would begin his preparations for his September 10 tuneup fight against Mexican Hector Velasquez in Cebu.
Pacquiao and his nemesis, World Boxing Council super featherweight kingpin Erik Morales, are the double headliners in the US boxing card being promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Morales, who decisioned Pacquiao on March 19 in front of a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will battle former Olympian Zahir Raheem in a nontitle bout.
Once both Pacquiao and Morales hurdle their respective opponents, they are being lined up for a big megabuck rematch in early December.
