ROACH: "PACQUIAO BEST SHAPE EVER"
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 22 Apr 2015
LOS ANGELES. Cal. -- Unbelievable, formidable, unbeatable.
These were the reactions expressed by Manny Pacquiao's handlers, friends and associates following the Filipino eight-division champion's workout Tuesday, 10 days into his historic confrontation with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"It's a very, very hard day for me, for all of us in this camp," chief trainer Freddie Roach said following eight rounds of sparring, six rounds with the mitts and pummeling the double-end and speed balls at the Wild Card Boxing Gym here.
"I've never seen him in better shape in our decade and-a-half partnership than now," the 55-year-old Hall of Famer told mediamen gasping for breath from what he said was Pacquiao's punishing stint in the mitts with him.
"He's unbelievable," Roach exclaimed, drawing concurrence from up-coming light-weltrerweight and former Pacquiao sparring partner Liam Vaughan.
"It was only six rounds but I felt the punishment as if we were boxing for 15 rounds," Roach assessed. "Now I can say that he's really ready with the way he also banged his two sparring partners."
Roach then admitted to his audience that he, for the second straight day, had partly opened the training session for the reason that Pacquiao and the training staff have accomplished what they planned to achieve.
"Manny can fight any day from today," he proclaimed. "He's ready to fight and to win, I have no doubt about it."
The World Boxing Organization welterweight champion, who will be fighting his World Boxing Council/World Boxing Association counterpart on May 2 (May 3 in Manila) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, must have worked out for no less than 20 rounds including shadow boxing and floor exercises.
"Formidable is what I can say is Manny's stats as of today, a little more than a week before fight night," conditioning coach Justin Fortune, for his part said.
"He really made our job easier by his dedication to his training regimen, Fortune remarked. "Starting tomorrow, we'll be ready to really tone down on his routine although we might schedule him to run the mountains (Griffith Park) for two consecutive days, including Friday."
"Para akin, unbeatable na si Manny ngayon pa lang," former multi-titled Gerry Penalosa projected. "He's getting better and better everyday. Sa training, parang deep in his heart nandoon ang galit."
"Ang ganda ng ginawa sa kanya ni Justin (Fortune) in the conditioning aspect of the build up program. Bilib ako," Penalosa added.
Top Rank Promotions media relations man Fred Stenberg was at a loss to find the right adjective on Pacquiao's fighting condition.
"I couldn't say anything except that he is so full of energy that Freddie has to hold him back," Stenberg said. "He reminds me of his fights against Miguel Cotto and Oscar DeLa Hoya."
"Manny has come true to the moniker 'Storm from the Pacific' so Mayweather should watch out for the coming of that big storm," assistant trainer and Pacquiao's boyhood friend Buboy Fernandez said of his buddy.
Even businessman-friend Abbas Ahmadi, who has been in the gym watching the eight-division champion train since Pacquiao pitched camp in Los Angeles, was all praises for what he has seen.
"He's very strong, very fast and very agile," he said. "It will be an easy fight, contrary to what many believe."
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