LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao resembled a cyclone on Saturday and he left a trail of destruction at the Wild Card Boxing Club exactly a week before he formally comes out of a two-year hiatus by facing Yordenis Ugas of Cuba on 21 August in Las Vegas.
The main event during this particular training day was the four-round sparring session with AB Lopez, who delivered the kind of work needed to help Pacquiao get past Ugas at the T-Mobile Arena.
Energized by the crowd’s show of appreciation to almost his every move, Pacquiao feigned ignorance when he asked a scribe who had followed his career from Day One if he still has it or not.
“May nagbago ba? (Have I changed?),” Pacquiao asked him while shadow-boxing, loud rap music blaring from the speaker.
The fellow then shook his head and his eyes made a squint to assure him that his appetite for mayhem is still there.
Based on his work with Lopez, it was obvious the speed hasn’t left him and the paralyzing power hasn’t either.
Go ask Buboy Fernandez.
Fernandez’s left hand, though covered with a thick leather mitt, had been the constant recipient of Pacquiao’s straights and uppercuts the past six weeks.
On this day, the focus was on perfecting the left straights and uppercuts so Pacquiao threw them more frequently than ever before.
There were times when Fernandez could not feel the full impact of the thunderous blows since they didn’t land squarely.
But when they did, it brought a streak of nerve-wracking pain that traveled all the way to the shoulders and upper body of Fernandez each time.
Meanwhile, the testing protocols have been ramped up at the Wild Card and even over at Pacquiao’s mansion a few blocks away.
Pacquiao’s men have been reminded to exercise extreme caution in their daily routines to avoid catching the highly-contagious Covid-19 disease.
Even with daily testing at the gym, the possibility of one of them catching it and spreading it to a crucial team member could spell disaster with promoters left with no choice but to cancel the fight.
This week in Las Vegas, the safety protocols are going to step up anew.
Pacquiao will have his last Hollywood training on Monday before making that 300-mile land journey to Sin City.
