LOS ANGELES ? A very short message Freddie Roach gave Manny Pacquiao in their brief meeting at the Wild Card Gym last Monday was for the Filipino boxer to try to stay in shape while he?s away.
?Yes, he?s got to stay in shape because we don?t know when he?s gonna fight next,? said Roach, who added that Pacquiao did a very good job preparing, training for the Juan Manuel Marquez fight.
?That?s the way it should be. And for that to happen again he needs to stay in shape,? added the two-time Trainer of the Year now busy training Bernard Hopkins for an April fight with Joe Calzage.
?I think he knows what to do,? said Roach.
Pacquiao leaves on Saturday and arrives in Manila on Monday.
A string of parties and celebrations awaits the newly crowned WBC super-featherweight champion, and shortly after that Pacquiao plans to bring his family to Boracay for a vacation.
?No definite plans yet but that?s one of the plans,? he said.
Pacquiao, according to Roach, deserves to take some rest after two months of hard training here in Los Angeles, and a brutal, bloody 12-round bout against Marquez at Mandalay Bay last Saturday.
He also has to let his wound, a long, nasty cut over his right eye, heal faster.
Pacquiao still isn?t sure when he?s coming back here to fight, whether on June 28 against WBC lightweight champion and fellow Top Rank boxer David Diaz, or later on possibly for a third fight with Marquez.
?Whoever,? said Pacquiao who?s been taking it easy since he arrived back here in LA from Vegas. He?s been taking his time with wife Jinkee, driving around town, doing some shopping and visiting some friends.
For the meantime, he?s here enjoying the sun, and the cold California weather.
