Bob Arum went to the Philippines this week to watch his prized boxer, Manny Pacquiao, train for his Nov. 13 light middleweight title fight with Antonio Margarito in Dallas.
What the 79-year-old Hall of Fame promoter found was a typhoon ravaging the island country and a distracted fighter who was “lagging behind” in his training schedule for a fight a little more than three weeks away. Neither scenario left him feeling particularly good.
“There are so many distractions here in the Philippines that, while (trainer) Freddie (Roach) believes he will be OK once we get him to Los Angeles, his preparation ? for Manny ? leaves something to be desired,” Arum said. “When he hits the mitts, he demonstrates his quickness. But when he’s sparring, whether it’s because he’s adjusting to bigger guys, taller guys, or whether he really hasn’t got the conditioning to fight at full speed the way he always does, I’m not sure.”
Arum said Roach didn’t seem to be worried about Pacquiao’s progress. And Typhoon Megi, which killed at least 13 people and destroyed thousands of homes, mostly skirted Baguio City, where Pacquiao trains.
“Freddie believes that when he gets to the United States, that speed element will come,” Arum said. “And I must say when he sparred on Saturday, while most of the time he didn’t demonstrate that quickness … there were times when he sparred within the round ? it wasn’t sustained ? when he just unleashed dozens of punches that the partners couldn’t answer.”
Whenever Pacquiao trains in Baguio or Manila, where he will work out today and Friday before jetting to Los Angeles to finish his training at Roach’s Wild Card Gym, the popular figure and congressma
