DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — Manny Pacquiao, still short in sparring, was left working frantically with the punch mitts and the speedball yesterday after he knocked out junior welterweight Cris Saluday during training at the Almendras Gym here Wednesday.
The knockout was not part of the training script. The idea was for Pacquiao to complete enough sparring rounds-as many as 70 if possible-for his Dec. 11 fight at The Fort in Taguig.
So far, Pacquiao has been stalled at 34 rounds after his other sparmate, RP lightweight champion Ferdie Montilla, ended up hurt and bloodied earlier.
Trainer Freddie Roach, who’s looking over Pacquiao here after flying in from California on Monday, did agree with the Inquirer that there was nothing wrong with the power, speed and sharpness of his fighter.
Roach was, however, quick to admit that the same could not be said of Pacquiao’s stamina and overall conditioning.
“Terrible,” Roach swore, shaking his head, to describe Pacquiao’s shape when he first worked out with the Filipino world boxing sensation on Monday.
They have been cramming since then and yesterday, their fourth day together in the Philippines. Roach reluctantly admitted that Pacquiao was only half ready for his big 12-round outing on Dec. 11.
“If he fights on Saturday,” Roach was asked, “Can he (Pacquiao) last four rounds?”
“No, six, six rounds, he’s now as good as that,” Roach replied.
The honest reply was made after Pacquiao, visibly pudgy but sweating in blue T-shirt and black No Fear shorts, finished a furious final round with the mitts panting, his mouth half-open.
Pacquiao gets up before the sun today to jog through the heights around here.
He resumes sparring in the afternoon, with the hope that his battered partners would by then be back in fighting shape again.
The goal is to hit the same peak Pacquiao had when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas last May.
At least, Roach and other members of Team Pacquiao believe that the ideal form is attainable. In order to achieve that though, they need to work double time.
“The great thing with Manny is that he’s all business when it comes to training,” Roach said. “No boxer in the world trains as hard as Manny.”
He sees no problem, said the famous American trainer, who could make even the toughest subjects like Mike Tyson toe the line, when it comes to conditioning.
“He respects me and I respect him, we believe in each other,” Roach said of his great team-up with Pacquiao.
A spy who worked the camp of Fahsan 3K Battery said the Thai challenger, conceding Pacquiao’s tremendous edge in punching power, would opt to run in the first four rounds with the hope of tiring out the Filipino boxing hero. The Thai intruder would then move in and start to box Pacquiao once exhaustion has set in.
“I don’t think he has the legs to run that far,” Roach.
Roach also vowed Pacquiao would be 100-percent ready come fight time.
