IMPRESSIVE as he was during a public workout the other day for his July 2 tiff with Oscar Larios, Manny Pacquiao appeared far less pleased with the kind of performance he dished out before a sizeable afternoon crowd inside the Araneta Coliseum.
So off he and trainer Freddie Roach went later in the day for an unscheduled light training at the Luneta and on the grounds of the historic Manila Hotel, where Team Pacquiao currently stays.
“Yesterday’s workout wasn’t enough to satisfy me or Manny,” said Roach shortly before presiding over the Filipino ring icon’s trainig yesterday at the ABAP (Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines) gym.
Meanwhile, visible as Team Pacquiao is, Larios and the rest of the Mexican contingent remain secluded in workout, none among them ready to conceal where the 29-year old native of Guadalajara has set up his training camp.
Larios, manager Rafael Mendoza and trainer Edison Reynoso are all staying at the Discovery Suites in Pasig but neither anyone of them had been seen in public since arriving here Sunday, except for Monday’s scheduled public workout.
During the afternoon presentation, Mendoza said his team is going to work out at the Elorde gym branch in Pasig. The Mexicans were no show yesterday.
It was learned later in the day that Larios opted to train at the fitness gym of the Discovery Suites, where he did some shadowboxing. “The morning workout wasn’t enough, obviously.”
By that, Roach meant the light sparring Pacquiao did as part of the public preview to hype the 12-round non-title bout at the Big Dome this Sunday.
During the course of the three-hour long presentation, the 27-year-old flamboyant southpaw from General Santos City sparred with Russian lightweight Rustam Nugaev for three rounds and did a three-minute work each on the mitts and skipping rope.
Then again, that wasn’t enough for the man they called ‘Pacman.’
“His (Pacquiao) focus is good. Manny doesn’t know how to take it easy,” admitted Roach, obviously delighted at the work ethic being shown by his favorite ward leading to the biggest boxing fight to be held in the country in recent years.
Although the remaining days would be spent more on conditioning and strengthening, Roach said he intends to conduct light training at least until Friday, one day before the official weigh-in is held at the Discovery Suites.
Team Pacquiao actually has a scheduled early morning jogging tomorrow just before proceeding to the final press conference of the bout also at the same Pasig hotel.
Today, Roach said Pacquiao will just work on the mitts, does some skip rope and stretching.
“We’re now cutting back a little bit. Everything’s right on schedule.”
In other related news, Malcolm Tunacao has been tapped to take the place of Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Larios fight.
The last-minute inclusion of the former World Boxing Council (WBC) champion came about after Bautista was hospitalized during the weekend due to high fever and excessive coughing.
Tunacao is still scheduled to fight Mexican Alejandro Montiel.
