Manny Pacquiao racked up a total of ten rounds of hard sparring just before flying to Los Angeles last night where he will spend the most crucial stage of his training for the April 9 showdown with Tim Bradley in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao did five rounds apiece with Ghislain Maduma and Lydell Rhodes in General Santos City and will resume his training under Freddie Roach on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.
The final four weeks will be pivotal as Roach will once again push Pacquiao to the limit by having him contend with a bevy of fresh sparring partners three times a week.
Maduma and Rhodes will have company as Roach has tapped two others to help them out.
Since Pacquiao will arrive in Los Angeles on board a Philippine Airlines 777 on the same day (Saturday), the 37-year-old fighting congressman will get the luxury of a one-day rest to get him all juiced up for the final push.
All in all, Pacquiao trained in General Santos City for almost a month after doing separate workouts in Manila prior to the official start of the buildup when Roach came to shores on Valentine?s Day.
The number of sparring rounds should hit its peak towards late next week into the succeeding week before Roach decides to gradually lift his foot on the gas pedal.
By the time Pacquiao and his massive entourage rolls out to Sin City on the Monday of fightweek, he would have already done his last sparring session by then and would only need to work out light to keep the competitive juices flowing.
While most of the attention is on Pacquiao, who will be fighting for the first time since dropping a decision to Floyd Mayweather last May, Bradley is doing his thing in the deserts of Palm Springs with new trainer Teddy Atlas.
Bradley and Atlas? camp has been ?progressing accordingly,? reported Monica Bradley, the fighter?s wife and manager.
It was only about two weeks ago that Bradley also entered the sparring segment of the training but the 33-year-old US puncher has been making heads turn.
