LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao pushed himself too hard during a media workout at the Wild Card Gym Thursday that chief trainer Freddie Roach is starting to complain.
“Telling him to slow down is my hardest job here,” said the two-time Trainer of the Year who always finds it difficult making Pacquiao feel that enough has been done for the day.
As the six-round sparring session against two Mexican fighters ended, Pacquiao was overheard bargaining with Roach for one extra round.
But Roach wouldn’t give in even as Pacquiao, who probably trains harder that any other boxer out there, begged for “even for two minutes more.”
Pacquiao asking for more has become a daily scene at the famous Hollywood sweatshop. But Roach said there’s really no more need to push the body with the Marco Antonio Barrera fight just around the corner.
“We’re not going to get in better shape than we are right now,” said Roach, stressing that the physical part of the training is practically over, and now comes the mental stage.
“We’re now into that stage of the preparation,” said Roach.
Pacquiao admitted that he feels in tip-top shape, more than six weeks into training and 125 rounds of sparring logged.
“If Barrera is one-hundred percent, I’m one-hundred percent, too. But it’s going to be a hard fight. Physically, mentally and spiritually, I’m ready. But there’s no prediction,” said Pacquiao.
The 28-year-old Filipino icon said he understands Roach when the trainer asks him to stop.
“He just doesn’t want me to over-train that’s why,” he said.
Before mediamen and fans that packed the gym on a sunny day in LA, Pacquiao sparred three rounds with Daniel Cervantez and another three with David Rodela, both Mexicans.
But before the sparring began, Roach stepped into the middle of the ring, telling the crowd: “Okay. Manny is going to box for everybody. But no filming please. You can take stills but no flashes.”
Roach was just making sure that Barrera spies, if indeed there are any, won’t be able to catch Pacquiao in sparring on film.
There were a few who tried to steal some footage but were warned each time by Wild Card enforcer Rob Peters. One guy, who didn’t look like Filipino, went a little too far during the fifth round.
“One more time and you’re thrown out,” Roach, almost shouting, told him.
Pacquiao had a few good exchanges with Cervantez, a 21-year-old member of the Mexican team to the 2004 Athens Olympics who now has a professional record of 10-0 in the heavier lightweight division.
“Come on, come on,” Pacquiao would often tell his sparring partners – always asking for more.
