CHICAGO – Depending on which sports page or website you’re reading, Manny Pacquiao weighed somewhere between 136 to 138.5 pounds during a 30-day pre-fight weigh-in supervised by the WBC just recently at the Wild Card gym.
But before you furrow those eyebrows and get the itch to press the panic button, save yourself the trouble.
Training for over four weeks now in LA, Pacquiao is in superb shape, and he will easily shed those unwanted pounds when the Grand Finale’s official weigh-in occurs on Nov.17, the day before Pacquiao-Morales III unfolds at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
As promised in my previous column last Wednesday, I’ll take you to a day in the life of Manny Pacquiao as he prepares for what is easily the biggest fight of his career.
PacMan’s day begins when he rises at 6 a.m. He slips into a running outfit, laces up a pair of Nike sneakers, and then darts into the streets of a megalopolis that is just slowly getting up on its feet. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Manny jogs only on flat surfaces around Sunset Blvd., where he keeps a sprawling abode. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he runs at Griffith Park and the hilly terrains that lead to the world-famous Hollywood sign.
After having burned some calories in the early morning routine, Pacman gobbles up breakfast, where eggs and fruits take centerstage.
And once the food begins to settle, Manny takes a nap at 9:30 a.m. He peels himself out of bed again at around 11:30 a.m and rushes over to the Wild Card gym. Manny, who sits behind the wheel of a spanking new Mercedes SL 550, leads the small convoy to Vine St. Trailing him is a small entourage packed inside a Lincoln Navigator, an SUV’s equivalent of a C-130 airplane.
From the hours of 12 to 3:00 pm, Manny is in constant motion. And under the watchful eyes of uber trainer Freddie Roach, PacMan spars, punches bags, abuses the speed ball and skips ropes. Somewhere in between, the General Santos native still manages to find the energy to do 200 to 300 sit-ups.
A lot of down time settles after a long day at Wild Card and Manny uses it to surf the Internet, catch up on some readings and just hang out at his comfortable shack. Dinner is at 6 p.m. And while carbohydrate-rich rice is the main staple, it’s strictly no pork in the champ’s diet. Manny merely feasts on chicken, beef or fish broth.
After dinner, Pacquiao devotes some time on a new album that will be released soon. Winchell Campos, Manny’s close friend who helps the boxing star a lot with media-related stuff, made me hear a sample from one of Manny’s next songs. Well, it might not win a Grammy, but boy, it’s good enough to go gold, if not platinum, in sales.
By 10 p.m, it’s lights out at Team Pacquiao camp. A hectic day closes, yielding for another to come, eight hours later. There you go, put your worries away. Unlike Morales, who weighed in at 142 pounds and continues to battle his demons at the weighing scale, Manny is just fine. And judging from his conditioning, something that he has shown time and time again in previous duels, stamina will not be an issue for Manny. Pacman is in such terrific shape he can go 12 rounds on Nov.18 and then run a marathon afterwards.
Power isn’t a concern, either. Manny has always had that gift as a child. And when nature is nurtured by good training and conditioning, that power only increases.
Quickness? Forget it, Manny might as well have been a magician. He can disappear in front of an opponent with more than 15,000 spectators watching.
Speed? Well, on a good day, Manny can outrun his Porsche sports car. On a bad day, he’ll pull even with a Volkswagen.
All I’m saying here is that Manny is ready for Nov. 18. The question, however, remains: Is Erik Morales just as ready?
