PACQUIAO DOES EIGHT VIGOROUS ROUNDS OF SPARRING
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 26 Mar 2015
Eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao ripped into two sparring partners going four rounds with each at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach on Thursday.
Pacquiao sparred four rounds with 21 year old Kenneth ?Bossman? Simms Jr, the undefeated Chicago lightweight with a record of 5-0 with 2 knockouts and went another four rounds with 25 year old undefeated welterweight Keandre Gibson who has a record of 12-0 with 5 knockouts and is believed to be a fighter from the Floyd Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas.
According to publicist Fred Sternberg, Pacquiao went eight ?vigorous rounds? and ?looked tremendous.?
He said Roach had to hold him back because Pacquiao wanted to do more even after a full schedule of punching the heavy bag, working on the speed ball and the punch-mitts.
A Ring TV report by Anson Wainwright on New Faces said that Gibson had fought current professional standouts like Sadam Ali, Jessie Vargas and Terence Crawford during his amateur career and has enjoyed training and sparring with the likes of Shane Mosley, Pacquiao and Ruslan Provodnikov.
Wainright reported that Gibson was the chief sparring partner for ?Canelo? Alvarez and worked with him for two months prior to Canelo?s liss to Mayweather Jr.
Veteran trainer Kenny Adams said Gibson has ?very good strength, good flexibility.?
Meantime, longtime pound for pound king and four division world champin Ron Jones Jr has dismissed claims by trainer Freddie Roach that age has taken its toll on Mayweather and that his legs are gone.
According to featured columnist Matt Jones in a piece on Bleacher Report, Jones warned Pacquiao that Floyd Mayweather ?is capable of doing things now that he wasn?t doing a decade ago and that Pac-Man should be careful of underestimating the American's power.?
From Jones? point of view the fact that Floyd ?can't do things at 38 that he did at 28 makes him more dangerous.?
As Roy Jones pointed out, Mayweather has ?always been a great puncher, but he's never had to use it because he was so much better than everyone skillfully, and he had so much athleticism that he hasn't had to depend on his punching power.?
From what we have seen so far in some training videos, Mayweather appears hell-bent on focusing on his punching power and as Roy Jones Jr notes, Pacquiao ?may think he'll be able to outwork him and not worry about (Mayweather's) power because he hasn't had to use it. Now that he's gotten older he will use his power, and that's going to be a bigger problem for Pacquiao. Because, to me, the only way for him to beat Pacquiao is to get him out of there.?
Both fighters are in the midst of their respective preparations for this showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and it?s going to be hugely intriguing to see how this fight pans out. Some detractors claim the pair are arguably past their very best, it may not live up to the hype, but as noted by Jones Jr. the experience of both could offset any deterioration in sharpness.
Indeed, Bob Canobbio of Compubox told Bleacher Report that statistics show the upcoming bout will actually be more entertaining for the scrapped fight five years ago.
Mayweather is certainly a canny operator and a fighter revered for his immaculate defensive work. His counter-punching is forensically accurate, his movement is slick and his in-ring nous makes him extremely difficult to catch with any kind of combination.
Although Jones Jr. refers to it, Floyd?s power is not typically an area that many assess as a major strength. After all, he hasn?t won a fight by knockout or a stoppage since beating Victor Ortiz with a potshot in 2011.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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