ON his third sparring day, Manny Pacquiao showed that he is ready to rumble by now.
But while he amused those who gathered to watch him exchanging leathers with Mexicans David Rodela and Raymundo Beltran for three rounds each, his trainer, the celebrated Freddie Roach, was not pleased at all.
“You know that Manny is an entertainer. He entertains people. But I want him to concentrate, focus because he is up against a big fight,” Roach told sportswriters after the sparring sessions.
Pacquiao showed he can slug it out with lightweight and heavy-punching Beltran, putting the latter in trouble most of the time.
In the first round, Pacquiao connected a left on the head geared jaw that had the hired sparmate staggering to the neutral corner. On the second round, Beltran paused momentarily after he missed a straight and missed the target that hurt his left elbow.
“Manny is doing well. As usual, he is quick and strong. His hand speed is even better,” Beltran, while doing the speed ball, told Sun.Star-Cebu.
Against Rodela, Pacquiao was doing counterpunches and allowed the tall “opponent” to hit his body before unleashing his “killer” blows that forced the Mexican to quit before the three minutes of the third round was consumed.
“I hate to say this but we need to totally shut the doors. Because I wanted Manny to focus, we only had six weeks left before Oct. 6 and we can’t waste our time,” Roach added.
Although access was regulated, Roach is still not comfy with many people watching Pacquiao’s workout everyday.
Today will be the last day Pacquiao’s training will be available to the public. Next week, Roach will impose a no-audience policy especially when his prized fighter does the sparring sessions.
Roach, however, will assign a day when Pacquiao will be available for the public.
“I just can’t say no to these people because they love Manny. But I must appeal to give us more privacy because all I wanted is for Manny to win,” Roach stressed.
Next week, Roach is giving Pacquiao a heavier training load and will be sparring for longer rounds to achieve its targeted 120 rounds before flying to the US.
Just like Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera is in the thick of preparation at his hometown in Guadalajara, Mexico and started his sparring session at the same date with the Filipino boxing superstar.
