Slow down? Not in Pacquiao’s mind
Credit to Author: Tempo Online| Date: Sat, 12 Jan 2019 09:25:28 +0000
HUDDLE: Manny Pacquiao, Freddie Roach and Justin Fortune discuss strategy on Friday at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles. (Nick Giongco)
By Nick Giongco
LOS ANGELES – Manny Pacquiao requested to jump rope on Friday afternoon but lead trainer Buboy Fernandez politely turned down his request.
Pacquiao tried his luck with conditioning coach Justin Fortune and was given the same dry answer.
With a little over a week before facing Adrien Broner in Las Vegas, Pacquiao still appeared as though he hadn’t done enough to prime himself up.
“One more, one more,” Pacquiao said, sounding like a kid begging for the clown to perform another playful trick.
“We’re done with heavy training,” said Fortune, who believes the 40-year-old Filipino southpaw has reached his peak and that the remaining training days will be solely devoted to maintain his condition.
“We’ve sparred over 100 rounds and that’s it,” said Fortune, a former powerlifter and heavyweight fighter who once battled Lennox Lewis.
Pacquiao had racked up six rounds of heavy pounding on the mitts and shadowboxed as well but still craved for more.
“Whenever there’s a lot of people watching him train, he tends to show off a bit,” said Fortune.
Indeed, quite a number of mediamen were allowed to witness the tail-end of his training session.
Aside from those assigned to the Pacquiao beat, there were several non-boxing individuals who gained access to the first floor of the Wild Card Boxing Club.