MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao never fails to amaze his chief trainer Freddie Roach.
The Filipino superstar is perhaps done with the toughest days of his training for the June 9 bout with Timothy Bradley that he has started to taper down.
From 12 rounds of sparring last Thursday it was down to 10 Saturday. Roach said he?s happy with what he?s seeing, and where Pacquiao is at the moment. (Related story on Page 15)
?Everything?s doing very well. Manny is back into it,? said the five-time Trainer of the Year.
Sparring should go down to eight rounds, and then to six and four until the day Pacquiao moves to Las Vegas on fight week.
?We?re right on schedule,? he said of the scheduled showdown for the Filipino?s World Boxing Organization welterweight crown at the MGM Grand.
Roach is impressed with Pacquiao despite the latest issues surrounding the latter outside the ring.
Roach said those who are thinking that Pacquiao is either slowing down or just past his prime are terribly mistaken.
?His critics are saying he?s washed out or that he?s done. I don?t think so. He?s still pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world,? he said.
Much of the basis for people saying Pacquiao is no longer that same old Pacquiao is his unimpressive victory over Juan Manuel Marquez last November.
The fact that Pacquiao hasn?t knocked any of his last four opponents is also in the minds of his critics.
?We didn?t fight a good fight the last time out,? said Roach of the razor-thin decision over the 38-year-old Marquez.
?Manny wasn?t very focused the last time out. And Marquez had something to do with that, too. He always gives us trouble,? said Roach.
But Bradley is no Marquez. Neither is he Shane Mosley, who did not come to fight when he faced Pacquiao last year.
?Bradley will come to fight,? said Roach, who had predicted a knockout win for Pacquiao with no particular round in his mind.
?It will be exciting while it lasts. Believe me,? said Roach.
He hardly gets it wrong.
