OSCAR LARIOS of Mexico, who fights Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum, yesterday stepped up his training at Tokyo’s Teiken gym and appeared to be in good shape although a bit overweight for their stipulated l30 lb. fight for the World Boxing Council international super-featherweight crown.
Since arriving from Mexico a week ago, Larios has already sparred, among others, with 122-pounder Toshiaki Nishioka and WBC bantam champion Hozumi Hasegawa, a southpaw like Pacman, for four rounds each.
Hasegawa is girding up for his title showdown with Genaro Garcia on July 15, also in Japan.
Both challengers proved to be up to the challenge as they traded punches with gusto to the delight of a small group of visitors at Teiken.
Larios’ trainer Edison Reynoso said manager Rafael Mendoza was right in bringing their ward to Japan because there are not many excellent southpaws in Mexico, which usually does not produce converted southpaws, but makes natural lefties fight as they are.
Reynoso said his fighter presently weighs about 130.25 lbs. which is a quarter of a pound over the stipulated weight of l30 lbs. for his challenge against Pacquiao.
The 29-year-old Larios will be the fifth straight Mexican fighter to fight Pacman.
Pacquiao is being labeled as the ‘annihilator’ of Mexican warriors, with no less than Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, among his victims.
Now that Larios’ time has come to challenge Pacquiao, can he overcome the Pacman? There are apprehensions from the observers who said the Mexican will be hardpressed to overcome the strength of the Filipino destroyer.
Their final verdict — the training of Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and by Larios at the Teiken gym in Tokyo will definitely spell the difference.
