After skipping a beat the other day, Manny Pacquiao made up for lost time Thursday when he sparred 12 rounds against a set of boxers at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
Pacquiao got all tied up in a promotional tour last Wednesday in San Diego and skipped a day of training with only two weeks left before his big title fight with David Diaz.
Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach and his normal entourage drove all the way to San Diego last Wednesday to drum up the event, meeting his fans and members of the press.
But while Pacquiao took the extra mile, Diaz begged off, staying in Chicago to train. It was reported that Diaz didn?t want his training to be disrupted in the middle of the week.
After he was done promoting the fight, Pacquiao stayed behind in San Diego and asked his companions to look for a gym somewhere so he could train before driving back to LA.
They found a gym but certain house rules made it impossible for Pacquiao to do his thing there.
Pacquiao and company drove back to LA, and arrived before 6 p.m. with no time to train.
Michael Marley of boxingconfidential.com yesterday wrote that Pacquiao and Roach ?griped to promoter Bob Arum about why they went to San Diego and Diaz skipped the training interruption.?
It was the third promotional gig for the coming fight, taking the boxers to Chicago, Berkeley in California, San Diego, next week at the Los Angeles hotel and then later on in Vegas.
?They were a little pissed,? said a Team Pacquiao insider who felt that Pacquiao was robbed of precious time in training while Diaz had his way in staying in Chicago to train.
But Pacquiao still managed to take it in stride, sleeping earlier than usual Wednesday, and pounding the road for a 30-minute run early Thursday morning.
In the afternoon, he sparred 12 rounds against different boxers. It was the first time he did a dozen rounds in sparring for the Diaz fight, raising his total of 103 rounds.
Pacquiao, according to Roach, is on track.
?He weighed 144 at the mandatory (30-day prior to the fight) weigh-in, so he?s right where we want him.
We?ll be 135 by fight time. He?s a lot stronger, he?s not gonna kill himself to make weight. His power and speed are coming very well. He?ll be even stronger,? said Roach recently.
