Trainer Freddie Roach said he expects Manny Pacquiao to log in a total of 130 to 150 rounds of sparring against Mexican fighters for his Oct. 6 rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas.
“I see 130 to 150 rounds,” said Roach yesterday afternoon from Cebu where he supervised Pacquiao’s training for the second day after flying in last Thursday from Los Angeles.
Roach said Pacquiao’s sparring partners, Urbano Antillon and Jose Santa Crux of Mexico, will arrive tomorrow from the US, and sparring will begin on Monday.
“We’ll do four rounds on Monday. Then we’ll slowly get to six, eight, 10 and 12 before moving down a bit when we get back to Los Angeles,” said Roach, adding that sparring will be done thrice a week.
The American trainer said he and Pacquiao are now looking at Sept. 22 as the day they’ll head to LA for the final push in their training. One week in LA, and another in Las Vegas will cap it all.
Roach said Pacquiao is 65 to 75 percent ready for the fight, his first since he knocked out Jorge Solis in Texas last April.
Pacquiao flew to Cebu last Tuesday and started working out at the Rex “Wakee” Salud Gym under Buboy Fernandez, and before a horde of fans.
Roach has decided to declare the gym off-limits to fans from Monday to Friday to give Pacquiao more time to concentrate. The crowd that showed up at the gym last Thursday was just unbelievable.
“Hindi namin mapigil ang tao (We can’t control the crowd). Iba talaga si Manny (Manny is truly different),” said Salud, the owner of the gym, and a close friend of Pacquiao’s.
