FILIPINO superstar Manny Pacquiao has described himself “in tremendous shape” while sparring against much bigger welterweight fighters at the Wild Card Boxing Gym in Los Angeles.
Pacquiao, who continues his hard training for the January 21 mega-rematch with Erik “El Terrible” Morales, refused to divulge details of his buildup, although he said there will be no excuses after the fight this time.
“It was my first time to use those (Winning) gloves and it was a distraction,” Pacquiao told the boxing website Fightnews. “I’m happy to use the Reyes gloves this time.”
The Filipino hero also said the cut he sustained after an accidental headbutt in his first encounter with Morales also bothered him.
“It was a big distraction to me,” he said. “I couldn’t see out of my right eye, so when he came to the right side, I couldn’t see him.”
In a teleconference from his Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles yesterday, trainer Freddie Roach said everything is on schedule for Pacquiao.
“He’s got some great sparring partners,” Roach said. “Manny wants this fight badly and I can’t wait for it to happen.”
Roach admitted there were some tactical lapses during the first fight, which Morales won by unanimous decision, adding they plan to avoid the same mistakes again.
“I don’t think we fought a great fight the first time,” the American trainer said. “Manny was overanxious and a little left-hand hungry.
“There are definitely adjustments that can be made to fight a much better fight this time. We’re also studying the tapes of Morales’ loss to (Zahir) Raheem. He had trouble with Raheem’s speed and Manny has that type of speed. We’re going to take advantage of that if we can.”
Raheem, a former US Olympian, beat Morales last September in the same card in Los Angeles that saw Pacquiao stop Mexican veteran Hector Velasquez in the sixth round.
