No need to push the panic button.
“No. Not at all,” said Freddie Roach yesterday of Manny Pacquiao’s condition, being sidelined with the flu, and skipping workout at the RWS Gym in Cebu City for the second straight day.
Pacquiao complained of flu symptoms upon waking up last Friday, but still went on with his daily run that takes him up-and-down a five-mile course for more than half and hour.
Pacquiao did not feel better as the day wore on, and decided to skip his sparring session later in the afternoon. Dr. Hans Potot was called in to check on the condition of the boxer.
It was a viral infection that downed Pacquiao and a few others within his team, including one of his sparring partners. He was advised to rest for two days, take medicine and resume his workout tomorrow.
“He’s off. He’s sick,” said Roach over the phone, adding that a few days won’t hurt Pacquiao 34 days heading into the big fight.
The American trainer said Pacquiao insisted on running yesterday but was prevailed upon.
“He wanted to run. But I wouldn’t let him,” said Roach.
Pacquiao, in his third week of training in Cebu for an Oct. 6 rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas, spent the whole day at the Waterfront Hotel yesterday.
“He had a good lunch with Gov. Chavit Singson in his suite, and is up and about as we speak. The doctor is with him, looking over his condition,” said Pacquiao’s chief-of-staff, Jake Joson.
Joson said getting in contact with too many people or moving in and out of a humid gym to an air-conditioned room may have given Pacquiao the virus.
He said once Pacquiao is back in shape, the doctor might give him an anti-flu shot.
Roach said even the strongest get sick, and Pacquiao is no exception.
“People get sick all the time. He’s being taken care of. He’s doing fine. I’ve been through this many times and you can’t really do anything about it,” said Roach.
“He got sick. He’ll get better. That’s all,” he added.
