LOS ANGELES-People’s champion Manny Pacquiao has been making sparring partners appear like clowns and stuntmen with bull’s eyes all over their faces and bodies. It seems he’s now ready to clash with WBA and IBF title-holder Juan Manuel Marquez on May 8 in Las Vegas.
The 5’6″ Pacquiao, three inches shorter and giving away 16 pounds against 145-pounder Javier Garcia, fired combos of jabs, hooks and straights like tracer bullets, danced out of his opponent’s radar in a blink before landing a phantom left that floored his shocked opponent.
Fighting without “Trainer of the Year” Freddie Roach since reporting for training a month ago, Pacquiao was on cruise control through 12 rounds for the first time, taking instructions from strength and conditioning coach Justine Fortune and Filipino trainer Buboy Fernandez.
