Manny Pacquiao will prove to Freddie Roach on Monday in Los Angeles that he wasn’t pulling his leg when the Filipino star told him he was training like hell in General Santos City the past few weeks.
Pacquiao was set to leave late last night via Philippine Airlines for the most crucial stage of his training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood after delaying it for three weeks. A private plane owned by Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson was scheduled to ferry Pacquiao to Manila in time for the PAL flight.
But Team Pacquiao members believe Roach will be surprised to see a Pacquiao who’s already in fine form.
Roach has lined up a solid cast of sparring partners, not exactly clones of Juan Manuel Marquez, but close enough to resemble the style of the Mexican counter-puncher Pacquiao is facing for the fourth time on Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, who turns 34 on Dec. 17, had opened training camp in Baguio since 2009 and it was a surprise to many why he opted to stay close to home.
Still, Pacquiao assured everyone that his decision to stage the first phase of his buildup won’t affect his training.
?I have been doing well in training here in General Santos City,? said Pacquiao, who is aching to storm back after being robbed off a win against Tim Bradley last June.
Pacquiao and Roach are going for a knockout win to prove once and for all that he remains the superior fighter and not Marquez, who remains a superbly-conditioned athlete even at 39 years.
