CEBU CITY — If Marco Antonio Barrera decides to bang early, it would help Manny Pacquiao get the job done without much sweat, the Filipino star’s American trainer said yesterday.
“Barrera is a tough guy. He can absorb a lot of punishment. I think that’s what he’s gonna do in this fight. Run around and absorb punishment. If he wants to come out fast, I think it might end early for us,” said Roach.
Pacquiao, whom Roach described to be “hungry for a fight” during the afternoon training at the new Rex “Wakee” Salud gym, is already 70 percent in his training and his condition is improving.
“We’re actually where we want to be. We started sparring a little bit early than normal. We are now 70 percent in our training and we still have a long way to go,” said Roach.
Although he came in an hour later than the 1:30 p.m. training schedule, Pacquiao started strong in the mitts with Roach giving him more tips on how to cut the ring and approach Barrera in a close rank when the two boxing icons clash on Oct. 6.
With Bacolod Rep. Monico Fuentebella and a handful curious Cebuanos on the gallery, Pacquiao showed his powerful punches in the mitts with Roach stopping him on the ninth round.
“Can we have more?” Pacquiao asked Roach, who was already taking off his nameplated mitts.
“No. I quit,” Roach retorted with a smile.
“Manny is hungry today. He asked for more and I said no. We’re too far out to push him some more. Maybe in the couple weeks when he asked for more I might give it to him,” Roach told reporters, stressing that he doesn’t want to overtrain Pacquiao.
“If he wants a fight, we will fight. If he wants a rumble we’ll cut the ring off and we’ll close the ring down because Manny has become very efficient at that and he knows how to cut the ring off. We’re working on it on the mitts. Barrera as you noticed only moves in one direction. If he moves just like that, he’s in trouble,” said Roach.
Pacquiao is in top condition, said Roach.
When they weighed him last Wednesday, Pacquiao hit 136 but Roach wants him to be 135 before they leave for the US on Sept. 22.
Pacquiao is sparring with Raymundo ‘Sugar’ Beltran and David Rodela.
Beltran stands at 5-foot-8 with a 27-inch reach and carries a professional ring record of 20 wins and three losses. His 12 wins came by knockout.
