Manny Pacquiao yesterday said he has decided to skip his trip to China and that he plans to leave for Los Angeles on May 10 to begin his training for a June 28 showdown with David Diaz at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Over the phone, Pacquiao said there?s some catching up to do with his studies at the Notre Dame College in his hometown in Gen. Santos City. He is taking up Business Management and is bent on finishing the course.
?There?s one more subject to finish so the China trip had to be postponed,? said Pacquiao from his Gen. Santos City mansion at around 4:30 in the afternoon. He said he had just come from school.
While he?s in the province, Pacquiao said he?s been running in the morning, and next week he said he?d start training after school hours at a local gym owned by his close friend Rey Golingan.
Pacquiao said he will train under Buboy Fernandez, and that there?s no need for Freddie Roach to come over. He also said plans of training a few days in Cebu, where he also trained for the Marco Antonio Barrera fight, might not push anymore.
?I will train here in GenSan and on May 10 I will leave for the US. That gives me seven weeks in LA, and with another week here that would be fine,? said Pacquiao who needed eight full weeks of training to beat Juan Manuel Marquez last March 15.
Bob Arum of Top Rank had planned for a May 3 press conference in LA, but had to push it 10 days later after learning that Pacquiao had to honor some more commitments back home.
?I?ll be there for the press conference,? said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao will be in Cebu today or tomorrow to play the role of Lapu-Lapu in a re-enactment of the Battle of Cebu which took place in 1521. He was supposed to visit China from April 30 to May 4 for a tour of the sports venues to be used in the Beijing Olympics in August.
On May 8, Pacquiao will be special guest during the turnover rites for the new Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano who takes the place of Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.
Yano is a friend of Pacquiao?s, an adopted son of the Philippine Army. Just recently, Pacquiao visited Yano in his Camp Aguinaldo headquarters, and they played basketball with some friends.
?It?s a promise by Manny to Gen. Yano that he will be there during the turnover rites,? said Pacquiao?s secretary Bren Evangelio.
