There had been much conjecture that as Manny Pacquiao began preparing for his January 21st rematch versus Erik Morales that he would be setting up his training camp in Phoenix, Arizona. But as Pacquiao began working in earnest for the return bout last week, he was back at his familiar haunts at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club.
In the past, while Pacquiao was getting ready for fights, the gym and its surrounding area were transformed into ‘Pac-land’, with throngs of his Filipino faithful milling around for hours just to catch a glimpse of their national icon. After things came to a head leading up to his first bout with ‘El Terrible’ last March, a concerted effort to run private training sessions was implemented this past summer as he got ready for his bout with Hector Velasquez.
But heading into what may be his most important professional outing, there was a lot of talk of getting ‘The Pac Man’ into an even more secluded setting.
But alas, he’s back in Hollywood.
“With Manny, I think of it like this – if we go to Phoenix, Arizona, they have pool halls there, they have casinos there, they have dog racing there and horse racing there; Manny’s comfortable here,” explained his trainer, Roach. “He knows his way around a lil’ bit, he has some friends, and the thing is, he’s not going out partying and stuff like that. So Manny doesn’t need a babysitter, he knows what’s at stake here.
“And this is where we have the sparring. We have everything we want right here.”
With fighters like Oscar De La Hoya, Fernando Vargas and Shane Mosley leading the way up to the mountains of Big Bear the past decade, it became vogue for fighters to leave their familiar surroundings to go to faraway settings and set up camp.
Roach has always maintained that practice as being unnecessary and overrated.
“I definitely think so,” he explains. “The thing is, guys come up and win world titles and all of a sudden they want to go to training camps. I mean, they won the world title coming to the gym every day and just working. If the world title’s not enough to get somebody motivated, what is?”
No one is questioning the motivation of Pacquiao, who is glad to be staying in Southern California.
“I like staying in L.A.,” he said to MaxBoxing late last week, in his ever-improving English. “Our decision was to train here in Hollywood, so that’s final.”
In addition to finding a comfort level in Los Angeles, he is an unburdened fighter, finally free from his former promoter, Murad Muhammad.
“Oh, yeah,” he says with happiness. “We’re happy and we don’t have a problem. So right now I’m focused on my upcoming fight, so we’re ready.”
In the past, his union with Muhammad was as rocky and turbulent as Ike and Tina, with Manny playing the role of the abused. Now that the divorce is finalized, Pacquiao, who is now guided by the management trio of Shelly Finkel, Keith Davidson and Nick Khan, and promoted by Gary Shaw, is a much happier camper.
“Pretty much,” says Roach, who in the past did his best to help extricate his fighter from Muhammad. “He really doesn’t have anything to worry about. The tickets are taken care of, the rooms are taken care of, his sparring partners are taken care of. So it’s really a good situation for him, and if we don’t win this one, we have no excuses. We’re going to be at our best, and if we lose, it’s just that Morales is a better man.”
Back in March, Morales and Pacquiao put on a memorable back-and-forth affair that saw the hard-nosed Tijuana tough-guy winning by scores of 115-113 on all three judges’ scorecards. The fight was hard-fought, and while the contest was close, Morales was clearly the victor. He was able to take Pacquiao’s best punches and controlled the tempo and the pace of the fight from a distance with his long jab and sharp right cross.
“I remember that fight I trained hard, but my mind was not 100-percent conditioned. I had too many distractions,” recalled Pacquiao.
Believe it or not, Pacquiao and his handlers may have had a bit of a letdown concerning Morales because he was just four months removed from his loss to arch-rival Marco Antonio Barrera in their rubbermatch.
“Definitely,” admitted Roach. “Because y’know he lost the fight before we fought him last time to Barrera. So we took him lightly because of that. But the thing is, he’s fighting Pacquiao now, he’s got his whole country behind him. If he loses it’s going to be a slap in the face to him. So he’ll be at his best and that’s what we expect and we’re going to be at our best this time too.”
What’s ironic is that as they get ready to do it again, Morales is now just months removed from an upset loss to Zahir Raheem.
But don’t expect a letdown this time around; Pacquiao knows what’s at stake.
“Oh, yeah,” he says, “for me this is the biggest fight in my life. So it’s very important to me, this rematch.”
And it could be even bigger for the Philippines, which is beyond fanatical in their adulation of him.
“Oh, it’s big, it’s very big and important,” Pacquiao says. “I need to win this fight because everybody, all my countrymen are hoping for my victory and they believe I’ll beat him.”
GLOVE STORY, PART II
I’ve been told that for the rematch, both Pacquiao and Morales will be able to wear the glove of their choosing. Which means that Morales will most likely wear his traditional Winning brand and Pacquiao will utilize Cleto-Reyes mitts.
WEIGHTY ISSUES
The contracted weight for this bout is 130 pounds but in the contract is a stipulation that if either fighter comes in over the contracted weight, that they will be docked $250,000 per pound above the weight.
So don’t expect any Jose Luis Castillo-like shenanigans in this fight.
