FILIPINO boxing icon Manny Pacquiao will make do with local training for the time being.
Postponing his United States trip originally scheduled Monday night, Pacquiao will instead proceed to Cebu province tomorrow to spend some quality training time at the Cebu gym of noted boxing promoter Wakee Salud.
Pacquiao will immediately buckle down to work upon arrival as he prepares for his Sept. 10 non-title duel with Mexican Hector Velasquez at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, where he will co-headline a card with Erik Morales on March 19.
Morales takes on ex-Olympian Zahir Raheem in the other fight.
Pacquiao will head for the US on Sunday to continue his training at the famous Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach in Los Angeles.
If both Morales and Pacquiao emerge victorious, promoter Bob Arum has lined up a December date with HBO for the duo to do a repeat of their March 19 clash won by Morales.
The rematch is expected to be even bigger than the first encounter in terms of pay-per-view sales and gate receipts.
Salud said he will make the necessary preparations in terms of security as throngs of fans are expected to line up at the gym’s entrance just to take a look at Pacquiao, who remains largely popular in Cebu despite reports of his nocturnal forays to cockfighting arenas and billiard parlors.
“He is still a hero to many, because his is a story of triumph over poverty,” said Salud.
Salud is preparing his prized ward Yukka Gejon, who will vie for the World Boxing Association world 105-lb crown on Sept. 25 in Yokohama, Japan.
Salven L. Lagumbay is a contributor to the Philippine Daily Inquirer
