TEAM PACQUIAO PLOTTING TO SPLIT MAYWEATHER?S DEFENSE
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 24 Feb 2015
GENERAL SANTOS CITY ? Breaking Floyd Mayweather Jr.?s touted defensive prowess is where Manny Pacquiao?s preparations will be concentrated.
This, in a nutshell, was what assistant trainer, Buboy Fernandez said will mark the two-month honing up program the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion will be undergoing when training goes full blast at the Freddie Roach-owned Wild Card Gym at the heart of Hollywood in Los Angeles.
?No brainer naman yun. We all know what kind of a fighter Mayweather is, a defense specialist, so doon tayo magko-concentrate. Pag-aralan natin kung paano mababasag at mapapasok and kanyang depensa,? the heavy-built Pacquiao bosom friend told this writer during a lull in the eight-division belt owner?s training last Monday.
?We expect Mayweather to do the thing he is best known for, kaya we will be trying to do things Manny does best,? Fernandez, who is overseeing Pacquiao?s early routine at the Pacman Wild Card Gym here, explained.
?That?s what Manny has told us even before we started our build up program. But of course, it still depends on what coach Freddie has in mind, Buboy clarified.
?We?re sure coach Freddie has already mapped out his plans as to how we will carry out the program, which he will be spelling out to us when we get to L.A.,? Fernandez said.
?What we have started doing starting today (Monday) and what we will be doing until the time we leave for the U.S. is to let Manny feel what it is atop the ring, which he missed the past four months or so,? he added. ?But, at the same time, yun na nga, unti-unti ay simulan na rin ang dapat gawin in the entire camp.?
Fellow assistant trainers, younger brother Roger ?Haplas? and Nonoy Neri agreed. ?Pagpag-pagpag lang muna para maalis lang ba ang kalawang,? the duo chorused as they supervised the usual conditioning exercises that normally end the day?s training regimen.
Neri noted though that the three-time Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade honoree is not that rusty, adding though that their boss looked tired due to the many activities he has been engaging himself in rendering him lacking in sleep the past few days.
Pacquiao, it was noted, has been playing chess nightly and the presence of billiards players competing in the on-going World Pool 10-Ball championship added additional distractions to his routine.
He also plays basketball almost nightly, leading the team to entertain the idea of leaving for L.A. earlier than the planned middle of March departure.
Photo: Pacquiao imitates Floyd Mayweather's famous shoulder roll defense during a tactical discussion with assistant trainer, Buboy Fernandez, in the middle of mitts training at the Wild Card Gym in General Santos City. Photo by Wendell Rupert Alinea.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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