Pinoy idol tapers off, prepares for Vegas trip
LOS ANGELES — Over at the two-bedroom apartment unit of Manny Pacquiao late Wednesday night, boyhood friend and training assistant Buboy Fernandez had his eyes glued on his high-end laptop that was showing a downloaded copy of Pacquiao’s fight with Erik Morales last year.
Fernandez, who has been with the Filipino southpaw since arriving here on Dec. 3, has been reviewing the fight almost every night as there are only ten days remaining before the much-anticipated rematch takes place at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas next week.
“You can’t afford to give Morales the chance to set up with his punches,” Fernandez said in Pilipino, his eyes still on the computer screen.
“We’ve seen enough from that fight and we are pretty confident we can win this time. I am only worried about an accidental clash of heads and I just hope that doesn’t happen because I can feel that we will win.”
Fernandez was obviously referring to the collision of heads that produced a hideous cut on Pacquiao’s right eyebrow when he slugged with Morales on March 19 at the MGM Grand.
Fernandez said Pacquiao’s conditioning is topnotch, his eyes momentarily turning away from what was being shown to signify that everything’s well within Team Pacquiao’s training camp.
On Wednesday afternoon, Pacquiao sparred for eight rounds at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood and Fernandez said the GenSan slugger is on the final phase of preparation.
Despite the decrease in activity, Pacquiao would still have to wake up at 5 a.m. for roadwork at Griffith Park or at a nearby park.
Last week, Pacquiao plunged into heavy training by going 12 full rounds of sparring on two occasions.
“I feel really good right now,” said Pacquiao, who toyed with Russian lightweight Rustang Nugalev.
Pacquiao said that by the time he leaves Los Angeles for Las Vegas early next week, he would have already sparred 130 rounds.
Going into the final days, Pacquiao has tapered off and will only spar for six rounds on Friday. On Monday, before he motors to Las Vegas on board his newly-purchased titanium-colored V8 Porsche Cayenne, Pacquiao will cap his sparring session with a four-round workout.
Joining him in the 300-mile journey are Edward Lura on the driver’s seat with Fernandez as front passenger and Pacquiao and wife Jinkee occupying the back seats. Jinkee is planing in from Manila on Sunday.
