LOS ANGELES — Not even on Sundays.
Manny Pacquiao, set to fight Mexican Hector Velazquez on Sept. 10 at the Staples Center, got out of his room at 6:30 a.m. clad in jogging attire and ran around the Pan Pacific Park near his plush apartment at the Palazzo.
Pacquiao’s trainers had given him a day off, but the Filipino puncher treated Sunday just like an ordinary day.
“I am a fighter. I have no day-off,” Pacquiao said.
But it could also mean that there is no time to waste for the Filipino fighter whose training schedule went awry because of the so many commitments he had to attend to first before going full blast at the Wild Card Gym here at the heart of America’s Tinseltown, Hollywood.
He made four laps around the park, trailed by Florida-based Gerry Balabagan, a former boxer, and the duo proceeded to a nearby basketball court where friends and some neighbors were having a pick up game.
He decided to join and teamed up with interpreter Joe Ramos and journalist Winchell Campos in a shoot-around. But it was not the kind of game in which there was body contact. That would come later when he spars with an army of sparring partners over the next few days.
He limited himself to shooting jumpers. His guards were also told to let him take the shots unmolested. Because, they were told, one never knows how freak accidents happen.
Beginning this week, Pacquiao will face a battery of sparring partners of various styles and caliber. It will be hard work.
Knowing the quality of training and sparring at the famed training center, Pacquiao said he will sleep one hour earlier than his usual 8 p.m. bedtime.
“Magdadatingan na sila kaya dapat talagang kundisyon ka dahil kapag hindi bubugbugin ka sa ring,” said Pacquiao.
Reinforcing Pacquiao’s sparring team are Jose Santa Cruz, a crafty and tall lightweight from Mexico and Jason Litzau, an up-and-comer from Minnesota.
Then there is Israel Vazquez, the gutsy LA-based Mexican who gave Pacquiao a workout that showed the Filipino has a long way to go to reach fighting peak.
They sparred for four rounds and Pacquiao admitted that he has to work on his stamina.
Against late substitute Juan Carlos “Panda” Martinez on Saturday, Pacquiao sparred six rounds. This time, Pacquiao was in his element, connectng with his punches some of which were hard and solid that he later apologized to his sparring partner for not holding back.
Freddie Roach, his trainer who also handled Mike Tyson, said Pacquiao will spar three times a week and by the time he tapers off during fight week, he would have logged close to 100 rounds.
On Monday, he will again run around the Pan Pacific Park with his Australian conditioning coach Justin Fortune. On Tuesday, he will scale Griffith Park with Fortune present.
The first time he ran at Griffith Park last Friday, Pacquiao submitted a time of 36 minutes.
“That’s pretty good for a five-mile run,” said Fortune.
But even then, there’s miles to go before Pacquiao can say he’s ready to rumble.
