We?re just a little over one month away from the biggest event in the sport, Manny Pacquiao?s curious catchweight challenge to Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6th, so I figured it?s time for a mid-camp check in on the Filipino Icon.
So far, it?s been business as usual for Pacquiao, the former five-division titlist?s trainer Freddie Roach told me yesterday during an early afternoon pop-in to his famous Hollywood gym at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Vine Street.
?The only difference between this camp and any other camp is that he?s bigger and the sparring partners are bigger,? Roach said. ?That?s it.?
I arrived to the Wild Card Boxing Club about 20 minutes before Pacquiao did, and just like last time the gym was almost completely cleaned out apart from a few trainers (like Eric Brown and Pacquiao?s conditioning coach Alex Ariza) a couple of fighters (like Bobby Pacquiao) and one privileged regular (my MaxBoxing cohort Steve Kim).
Kim, who hasn?t been working out due to a shoulder injury, was finishing up an interview with Ariza as I greeted Brown, Bobby, Roach, and the even the veteran trainer?s mouthy little sidekick Shane (the one-eyed imp who may very well be the most annoying human being on the planet).
Kim was about to exit when he was met by ?the Man? ? the PacMan to be precise ? at the door. Pacquiao was followed by HBO?s 24/7 crew.
I asked Roach, who was part of the first series when he trained De La Hoya for Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Puerto Rico last year, if the large film crew and constant interviews were a distraction to a fighter?s camp.
?Off the record, if you think it will ruffle feathers,? I added, ?I?m just curious.?
?It?s a bit of a distraction,? he chuckled with a sigh. ?You can put that on the record. But it?s not so bad. If you tell ?em to get out of your way, they get out of your way. If you ask them not to shoot something, they stop filming. They?re respectful, and its part of the promotion of the fight.?
So far, Roach has done his part, adding a bit of an edge to the story and hype of the fight by claiming that if Pacquiao doesn?t win he won?t take his cut from his fighter?s purse and by repeatedly stating during the multi-city pres tour that De La Hoya is a fading fighter (or in his words: ?a spent bullet?).
De La Hoya, who hired respected Mexican trainer Nacho Beristain and recently added semi-retired hall of famer Angelo Dundee to his team, set Roach off by blaming him for the Mayweather loss.
The good folks at HBO aren?t too proud to fan the flames between Roach and De
