That’s how the American trainer Freddie Roach rated Manny Pacquiao’s conditioning on Wednesday, a day after he and the boxer arrived from their heavy training in the United States for the Filipino’s clash against Mexican Oscar Larios on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum.
“Jet lag’s still there. Manny’s still struggling. It’s more of the jet lag than anything else. So I’d rate him a 9 out of 10. But by Friday, I believe everything will be OK,” Roach said as he watched Pacquiao go through his paces at the ABAP boxing gym inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Guarded heavily by police and security assigned by Mayor Lito Atienza of Manila, Pacquiao jogged early Wednesday morning at the Baywalk before heading to the gym where he and the other Pinoy pugs in the “Mano-a-Mano” card are training.
Also witnessing the boxers’ workout for the second day were American manager Shelly Finkel and comanager Nick Khan.
Pacquiao went six rounds with Russian sparring partner Rustam Nugaov “where Manny looked good in some spots,” said Roach. “But you know Manny, he can turn it on when he wants to.”
The trainer bemoaned the fact he and Pacquiao went home midnight on Tuesday after watching the premier of the movie based on the fighter’s life.
“We were told that we would be home by 9 p.m., but we returned to the Manila Hotel around midnight. We still had to wake up at 6 a.m.,” Roach said.
He reiterated that among their priorities was for Pacquiao to get accustomed to fighting in daytime, an accommodation made for the pay-per-view customers that will be watching the bout in the evening in the US and in other parts of the world.
“That’s why we want to wake up early to adjust because it will be a morning fight since, like most boxers, he is used to fighting at night,” Roach said.
With Pacquiao tipping the scales at 131 pounds, his handlers had no doubt that “PacMan” would meet the 130-pound weight limit when he stakes his World Boxing Council International super featherweight belt against “Chololo.”
“Manny left the US weighing 132 pounds. Now he’s at 131. He will make the 130-pound limit easily,” one of his Filipino handlers said.
Roach said Pacquiao would have one more workout at the ABAP gym Thursday before having his last day of sparring on Friday behind closed doors at a facility that “even I don’t know yet.”
