Oscar Larios played hide-and-seek yesterday and kept mediamen guessing where and how the Mexican puncher is keeping himself busy only five days before he faces Manny Pacquiao at the Araneta Coliseum.
Larios was to work out at the Elorde Gym in Ortigas before noon. But he never showed up. The former world champion reportedly spent the morning at the Philsports Arena track oval. But again, there was no official sighting.
A check at the nearby Discovery Suites, where Larios is billeted, showed that the Mexican visitor never left the hotel and opted to sweat it out at the fourth-floor fitness center named Balance. No media was allowed in.
Larios showed up at the Araneta Coliseum Monday morning for a public workout. His agent, Rafael Mendoza, said last Sunday his boxer was to train at the Big Dome in the afternoon. But they left sooner than expected.
Where Larios would train in the next four days now remains the question. Mendoza said they have “five options” but added “I’m not gonna tell you where.”
While Larios was nowhere in sight, Pacquiao was there to see at the Luneta early in the morning and the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex boxing gym by lunchtime.
Pacquiao took his daily 5-mile run around the Quirino Grandstand by 5 a.m., took a short nap upon returning to his aristocratic Manila Hotel suite. He was in the gym for his regular two-hour workout by 11 a.m. Freddie Roach, the bemedalled American trainer, said this will be the case for the days leading to the fight.
“We’re tapering off a bit but we’re still working hard. It’s not gonna be easy. It’ll still be hard work as usual. Manny doesn’t know how to take it easy,” he told The STAR before the session started.
“Everything’s right on schedule and everybody’s happy. We’re taking this fight seriously as we always do. Manny is happy. And when Manny’s happy everything goes well,” he added.
“We’re ready for war.”
Proof that Pacquiao isn’t letting up was a late run near the hotel the other day.
“The public workout wasn’t enough to satisfy me or Manny so we ran last night. We did a little extra road work to make up for it,” added Roach.
For the fight, Pacquiao will get to wear his favorite gloves, the Mexican-made Cleto Reyes. It was the same brand he used in demolishing Erik Morales last January in Las Vegas.
While Pacquiao has declared his brand of choice, Larios has yet to make up his mind in using either the Everlast gloves of the Cleto Reyes.
Meanwhile, Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista was declared unfit to face Mexican bantamweight Alejandro Mentiel on Sunday’s undercard.
According to Sammy Gello-ani, one of Bautista’s handlers, the 19-year-old sensation was told by doctors to stay off the ring, two days after being rushed to the hospital in Cebu due to high fever.
Either Malcom Tu?acao or Bernabe Concepcion will take Bautista’s place in the undercard, which also features former world champion Gerry Pe?alosa.
