‘Bring him on, I can fight him anytime’ – Pacquiao
Credit to Author: EDDIE G. ALINEA| Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2019 16:16:47 +0000
LOS ANGELES: WBA welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao just couldn’t wait for his trainers to announce it.
On Thursday, barely a month and three days after pitching camp in Manila and two weeks after transferring camp here, the soon-to-be 41 year-old Pacquiao declared in an exclusive interview with The Manila Times he has reached his peak and ready to fight anytime.
“Now! “ the fighting Philippine senator assured this writer, following a 10 round session with a pair of sparring mates at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood here. “They can bring the enemy today or anytime from now and face him off.”
“I have been preparing for this fight for more than a month, dividing my time as a lawmaker and a fighter and I believe I’ve done enough to prepare myself, for the fight.
“Thanks to my trainers, who like me have been sacrificing their time and efforts to prepare me for this, one of the most important fights of my career as a fighter,” ditto to our families, who, likewise had to endure leaving without their heads,” Pacquiao said with emotional tone.
Pacquiao expressed gratitude, too, to the Filipino people to whom, he added he is dedicating all these sacrifices and who, have been praying for his safety from all injuries in his preparations and still praying for his victory.
“But most of all I thank God for giving me, at my age, all the strength and resolve to continue serving Him in the best way I can,” he said.
Pacquiao’s handlers, headed by chief trainer Buboy Fernandez, strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune and consultant Freddie Roach, likewise, asserted that their prized pupil has indeed reached tip-top shape in so short a time for the title showdown with fellow 147-pound belt owner Keith Thurman.
Pacquiao and Thurman confront each other on July 20 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for the purpose of unifying the WBA welterweight division.
Fortune and Roach, though, have different thoughts on when then eight-division titlist will reach perfect fighting form with the former saying within seven days and the former head trainer within 10 days.
Both agreed, however, that if Pacquiao himself feels he has reached his peak and can fight anytime, then so be it.
“Manny’s been really very aggressive in this training camp and I’m not surprised if he, indeed, feels he can fight already this early,” Fortune, who has been helping preparation to a great extent since training started May 25, said.
“That makes everything easy for us from hereon. That certainly reduced our problems to seeing to it that Manny doesn’t get sick or overtrained,” he explained.
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