‘There’s nothing Pacquiao needs to do anymore’
Credit to Author: EDDIE G. ALINEA| Date: Sat, 06 Jul 2019 16:23:36 +0000
LOS ANGELES: Preparations have been 100 percent completed. All the bases have been covered and there’s nothing WBA regular welterweight champion needs to do anymore two weeks heading to his unification showdown with super titlist Keith Thurman.
This is how best describes the third week of Pacquiao’s Los Angeles training camp which ended on Friday at the Freddie Roach-owned Wild Card Gym in Hollywood in this city.
A 12-round sparring against a pair of welterweight contenders – Jesse Roman and AB Lopez, each with separate talents close to Thurman’s style – put the curtains down the one-month camp that started upon Pacuiao and his team’s arrival here.
PHOTO BY WENDELL ALINEA
“Now we can official declared that Manny’s in top fighting form and ready to fight any day starting today, training consultant Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune chorused at the sound of the bell signaling the close of the dozen round skirmish sounded.
“There’s no gym work scheduled tomorrow (Saturday) unless Manny still wants to hold some limbering up,” Fortune announced, adding though, that roadwork at the mountainous Griffith Park will push through.
“Yeah, there will be roadwork at Griffith to preface the tapering off period starting Monday,” Roach butted in adding all the segments featured in the camp will continue but to a much lesser load.
Working the mitts (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday), for instance will be reduced from 10 rounds to as low as six to four, sparring from 12 today to possibly eight on Tuesday, six on Thursday and four before the team leaves on July 15.
Mapping out strategies and tactics will be the order of the days, too, this coming week, Roach and Fortune asserted, saying they, chief trainer Buboy Fernanez and assistant trainers Marvin Somodio, Nonoy Neri and Roger “Haplas” Fernandez have been watching tapes of Keith Thurman’s recent fights.
“We’ve been doing that since the fight was announced and we’ll still do it the next few days,” Buboy said. “We’ve actually discovered several of his defects some can still be corrected and some incorrigible, as Thurman continued doing them since early in his career. We’ll, certainly take advantage of them,” Buboy said with a big smile.”
“Training regimen have been completed 100 percent, but as to Manny’s shape, it’s 90 percent done,” Somodio, for his part said. “Yung 10 percent na kulang ang kukunin natin till the day of the fight.”
Even sparmates Roman, an 11-year veteran in game fight from nearby San Diego, and Lopez expressed confidence the eight-division belt owner is already in fighting form and ready to fight.
“He’s becoming faster and faster everytime we sparred,” Roman assured. Now, I found him very hard to hit, Manny’s very solid.”
Roman and Lopez believe the three-time “Fighter of the Year” will win via stoppage from the middle rounds on.
“I can see Manny knocking out Thurman in the seventh or eighth round,” Roman predicted.
Lopez said Thurman sure Is a powerful hitter and fast, too, “but his problem would be how to chase and catch Manny, who is faster than him. Manny’s stronger, too.”
Pacquiao and “One Time” Thurman fight July 20 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas to unite the 147-pound championship.
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