LOS ANGELES ? Manny Pacquiao treated his fans to a sizzling two-hour show and granted a 45-minute autograph-signing that made the Wild Card Gym look like a venue for a major book launch Saturday.
Fans were all over the boxing superstar the moment he arrived at the gym at 2 p.m. They watched Pacquiao work out for two hours, cheered during short breaks then waited until he came out of the dressing room.
Pacquiao must have planted a hundred signatures on jackets, shirts, caps, posters, calling cards, shoes and even dollar and peso bills. Most of them also had their pictures taken with the boxer, too.
?Whew! Nangalay ako doon. Ang dami talaga (It feels sore. That was too much),?said Pacquiao, who wasn?t really complaining as he pressed his hands against the back of one of his friends.
Then, instead of heading straight to the Nat?s Thai restaurant, his favorite hangout here just outside the gym, Pacquiao drove off on his shining, black Mercedes as some more fans waited in the area.
?He wants to eat somewhere else,?said a member of Team Pacquiao. ?He?s going to Vermont.?
?It?s okay. Maybe he?s tired. We?ll just come back on Monday,?said a fan.
Monday will be the last training day at Wild Card because later in the afternoon Pacquiao with his huge entourage takes a four-hour drive to Las Vegas for the Oct. 6 rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera.
Trainer Freddie Roach said Pacquiao is all set to go.
?We?re ready to go. It?s just one more week,?said Roach, who admitted have quite a hard time holding Pacquiao back in training as the 28-year-old star might overdo things on the gym so close to the fight.
?I?m getting him hungry right now. Every time I say no to him it?s for a reason,?said the two-time Trainer of the Year who would always say no when Pacquiao asks for extra round or two.
?Today was a good workout. And he?s playing a bit. But I like it when he?s playing a little. It means he?s not getting bored. That?s okay,?said Roach of the times when Pacquiao looks like he?s fooling around in sparring.
?But he always gets serious when he needs to,? he said.
