MANNY PACQUIAO doesn’t take orders from anyone – not even from Freddie Roach. But in the end, he apparently saw the wisdom and the need to train in the United States.
Upon his arrival last Wednesday, Roach suggested to Pacquiao that he should join him in a flight back to Los Angeles tomorrow in preparation for his first training day on May 8 at the Wild Card Boxing Club.
Roach said Pacquiao should not take Mexican Oscar Larios for granted and the outcome of their July 2 battle at the Araneta Coliseum would drastically affect the scheduled rubber match with Erik Morales and even the rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera.
Roach did succeed in convincing Pacquiao to change his mind about not going to the US to train, but Pacquiao still managed to dictate his own terms.
Instead of joining Roach and lawyer Nicholas Khan tomorrow night on a direct flight to Los Angeles, Pacquiao, according to Roach, will follow between “May 9 and 13.”
Asked whether he would train in the US for the Larios fight, Pacquiao just answered in the affirmative and allowed Roach and Khan to give out the other details.
Roach said six weeks would be enough for Pacquiao to get into peak form as the heavy-handed lefty trains like a madman.
Khan said Pacquiao and Roach would return to Manila in the second week of June to complete the final phase of the training, leaving doubts whether the planned training stint in Baguio would still push through considering that they should be in Manila one week before the fight.
“This is much better than Manny being here the whole time,” said Roach during yesterday’s press conference staged at Studio 10 of ABS-CBN. “There are lots of distractions here.”
Four sparring partners will be utilized to hone up Pacquiao and two will join them when they head back to Manila probably on June 12 or 13, right after Bobby Pacquiao’s fight with American Kevin Kelley at Madison Square Garden in New York on June 10.
Roach also trains Bobby, several Filipino fighters and other prospects at the Wild Card so he was bothered when news broke out that Pacquiao would no longer train in the US.
Pacquiao said he currently weighs 140 lbs and in due time will be in fighting form so he could show his fans that he remains the finest in the super-featherweight division.
“Hindi ko hihiyain ang mga kababayan ko at tingnan natin kung meron pang ibibuga ito sa laban,” said Pacquiao, taking a quick look at Larios, who was seated next to him on top of a ring put up by the organizers.
Meantime, the Larios camp exuded confidence about the prospects of upsetting Pacquiao in front of his adoring countrymen.
“Larios is much better than Morales and Barrera,” boasted Rafael Mendoza, Larios’ long-time agent whose involvement in the fight game spans five decades.
“Oscar has guts and stamina and these are the things that Morales and Barrera didn’t have,” added Mendoza.
“I am quicker and powerful than Pacquiao,” said Larios, who will spend one month in his native Guadalajara and around four weeks in Tokyo. From the Japanese capital, Larios will fly to Manila.
Gracing yesterday’s event were members of Pacquiao’s local team, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and executives of the TV network that is beaming the fight overseas through the The Filipino Channel.
It was already announced that bleacher seats amounting to over R2 million will be given away to hardcore boxing fans, but officials of the station declined to confirm whether ringside seats would still cost an arm and a leg. It was earlier announced that one such seat would cost P50,000.
ABS-CBN executive Peter Musngi said the actual amount is still being discussed, apparently after a huge howl was raised by the public when ticket prices were announced.
