If there was ? and was for emphasis ? any boxer pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao feared the most had he caught up with the Filipino boxing icon, that guy is now a certified Pacman fanatic.
When Manny was toiling and creating havoc in the lightweight classes, a stylish and complete featherweight boxer was making waves in Japan.
Pacquiao lawyer Franklin Gacal Jr once shared that after seeing Venezuelan Jorge Linares? fight tapes and holding a brief sparring session with him, Pacquiao was convinced he found the guy who could one day beat him.
Fate and body build however dashed all hopes of Linares facing Pacquiao in a real fight.
Instead, he is now one of Pacquiao?s sparring partners as the Filipino accelerates his training against Juan Manuel Marquez.
Linares, who now fights as a lightweight, is a taller version of Marquez with equal hand speed, perhaps with better ringsmanship and footwork than the Mexican.
If people ask why Linares seems to fly outside the radar, it is because the Venezuelan is largely an unknown commodity in the US, just like his stable mate and countryman, the late Edwin Valero.
Valero, who all won his 27 fights via stoppage, was found dead in an apparent suicide after reportedly killing his wife last year. He was in the short list of would be Pacquiao opponent at the time of his death.
Linares was recently quoted as saying Pacquiao should knockout Marquez inside six rounds.
Linares has above-average jabs who can work the ring to his advantage with his footwork. His lightweight frame however is no match against Pacquiao who usually climbs the ring on fight night as a small middleweight.
Linares? sparring sessions with Pacquiao should give the Venezuelan invaluable lessons on how to become a world champion through dedication and hard work.
Regular Pacquiao sparring partner Ami Khan learned it the painful way as he took some hard shots from the Filipino world boxing champion even with heavily padded sparring gloves.
Khan, despite just a shade under Pacquiao?s official fighting weight, has sworn he would not fight his mentor and now close friend.
Pacquiao is winding up is Baguio training camp and is flying to Los Angeles on Saturday to step up his training at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach.
The Filipino beak buster has morphed from a skinny wild punching flyweight into a feared welterweight.
His November 12 ring date with Marquez will be the third of their memorable trilogy ? a rivalry that is considered one of the best in the lower weight classes.
Their first two fights were controversially close with Pacquiao holding a narrow win over Marquez in their second fight. Their first encounter ended in a highly contested draw.
Many now believe Pacquiao?s added maturity and strength as a full-pledge welterweight make him an overwhelming favorite against Marquez who is fighting as a welterweight for only the third time in his career.
Pacquiao has already fought a total of 58 rounds fighting in the 140 and above weight levels compared to Marquez?s 13 rounds.
Will Linares be accurate with his prediction?
We have a little over a month to see what will happen.
