GENERAL SANTOS CITY—People’s Champion Manny Pacquiao is cramming for his super featherweight bout against Mexican Jorge Solis, drawing concerns that he may not be fully prepared for the April 14 bout in San Antonio, Texas.
Pacquiao, the WBC International super featherweight champion, now tips the scales at 137 pounds, the lightest he has been at this point of his preparation for a fight.
Although he is fighting at the 130-lb ranks, experts say he is “dangerously underweight” at this stage, where he should be at around 140 lb.
Pacquiao himself had earlier admitted that he is struggling with the heat and humidity in this seaside city.
Trainer Justin Fortune, who is handling the Filipino ring sensation in the absence of Freddie Roach, also expressed concern that Pacquiao has not reported for training at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood.
Roach took a leave from training Pacquiao as he is taking charge of Oscar De La Hoya’s preparations for his match against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May.
Roach, quoted by lawyer-sportsman Rudy Salud, said a boxer needs six weeks of no-nonsense training before a fight.
But Pacquiao said he is already “70 percent” prepared for his April 14 bout with the undefeated Solis.
Pacquiao claimed he has been training hard for about three weeks now at the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines gym here, which is managed by regional ABAP chair Rey Golingan.
The Filipino ring icon said Solis is a tough fighter and he is not taking the Mexican for granted.
“I am not belittling Solis’ capabilities,” the Filipino told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview in Filipino. “He is undefeated, so I believe he is tough.”
Pacquiao refused to give a prediction on what would happen during his fight with Solis.
“I won’t say I will knock him out, but I’ll do my best for the country and for my countrymen,” he said.
Golingan described Pacquiao as very focused in training.
“I don’t think Manny still needs the guidance of coach Roach,” Golingan said. “He’s doing well even on his own with the help of his Filipino trainer, Buboy Fernandez.”
Pacquiao also said his rigid training will not hamper his plan to join the congressional race here. Instead, he said, it would give him extra stamina to withstand the rigors of a political campaign.
He said he is spending his free time going around the city and the entire first district meeting people.
Last month, Pacquiao launched “People’s Champ Movement,” which gives free accident insurance to all its members.
According to him, PCM has about 200,000 members.
He said there’s no membership fee being collected.
“It’s just my way of helping my countrymen and this has nothing to do with the elections,” he said.
