LOS ANGELES ? Freddie Roach has one simple instruction to Manny Pacquiao: Hit and avoid getting hit.
It may sound ridiculous but Roach actually wants Pacquiao to steer clear from De La Hoya?s punching range as many times as possible when they lock horns on Dec. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“Don?t stay long (inside) when you attack because he?s going to retaliate. He fires back right away when hit,” Roach told Pacquiao as they were doing the punch-mitts routine on Wednesday at the Wild Card Boxing Club, where preparation for the Filipino?s ambitious quest has intensified.
“You gotta slip past his jab,” Roach said as a small crowd of select friends of Pacquiao and a growing number of mediamen, specially from the Philippines, watched his every move.
That jab, Roach said is “fast and hard,” the same blow De La Hoya used to cut up Mexican great Julio Cesar Chavez to shreds over a decade ago.
There?s also that possibility that instead of sizing up Pacquiao early in the fight, De La Hoya might “come to you early.”
Ten days before the grandest days of their boxing lives, master and student discussed what the 35-year-old would utilize against the Filipino underdog and in the presence of an attentive audience, Roach told Pacquiao to strike De La Hoya?s body with bad intentions.
Wearing a protective body shield so the 29-year-old Pacquiao could hit him with full force, Roach later revealed that even with the heavily-padded gear, Pacquiao?s punches still made their mark.
“I had bruises over here,” Roach said pointing to the left side of his body. “I?m aching all over. Even my wrist hurt.”
“Manny?s ready to go. I have got nothing to say, he?s sharp,” added Roach.
