LOS ANGELES-Filipino featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach think they have trained long and hard and are fully prepared for war. Tomorrow, they go to battle after breaking camp Sunday afternoon at the Wild Card gym here.
After completing 135 rounds of sparring, the last three against bantam Jorge Diaz, Pacquiao said, “I am ready.” He later did two more rounds with Roach on the mitts, perfecting maneuvers like choreographed ballroom dancing steps done fast forward.
After finally taking more than 200 taps of a round wooden baton to the solar plexus which are meant to desensitize nerve endings in that area, Pacquiao showed off a well-sculpted body and a hard-as-steel bread basket with almost no body fat.
Breaking of Team Pacquiao’s seven weeks of training on Sunday was an informal gathering of other Team Pacquiao members including those who will work on the Filipino’s corner and those who will make sure everything will be in order.
