PACQUIAO EXCITED TO BE BACK IN THE RING; ROACH IMPRESSED (PHOTOS)
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 16 Feb 2016
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Impressed by his prized student, Manny Pacquiao's mental and physical state despite a long nine-month layoff, chief trainer Freddie Roach, nonetheless, declared there are still a lot of things to do to with the eight-division champ back to his fighting form for his April 9 third encounter with Timothy Bradley.
"Today is only the first day of our preparations and I wasn't really expecting to see much of the inroads he reportedly had gained following the pre-training activities he'd undergone," the soon-to-be 56-year-old Hall of Famer said Monday, a day following his arrival in the country to preside Pacquiao's build up program.
"I'm impressed with what I saw. Never mind if it seemed he was only trying to impress me, but, I must admit, I'm happy seeing what I did not expect to see," Roach said. "I was expecting him to be rusty owing to his non-boxing activity the past several months. He was far from that."
"Manny showed me a very explosive pair of hands and quick footwork, assets that have been the highlights of his career. I'm glad he didn't lose that," he noted.
"Obviously, they did their homework before my arrival, Roach added in reference to Pacquiao himself, who started doing the roadwork aspect of training under the supervision of assistant trainers Buboy Fernandez, Nonoy Neri and Roger "Haplas" Fernandez two week ago. The fighting Sarangani Congressman has also been playing basketball almost daily by the side.
Pacquiao, too, expressed gladness being atop the ring again, saying, "excited na ako gaya nang dati. I have been missing boxing and the ring. It's been a long rest."
First in the agenda, according to the five-time "Trainer of the Year," is to determine how well his ward has recovered from the damage brought about by the rotator cuff injury he recurred in his super-fight with the now retired American Floyd Mayweather Jr. May last year.
"I need to know the extent of his recovery although I know he was examined by his doctors after the press conferences held to promote the fight and was given the green light to train," he said.
To recover his power and strength that fell 38 of his 57 victims in a 21-year fighting career, Roach continued, Pacquiao should have "more time on heavy bags and additional mileage on the road."
"Manny himself promised to win by knockout, a vow he never made before, so we have to prepare him for that, especially because he intends this fight to be his last," Roach quipped, adding extended sparring sessions is also in the works.
For this purpose, Roach said he plans to bring in two sparring mates, one of whom, Lydell Rhodes, who had helped the Filipino icon prepare in the Pacquiao-Bradley II two years ago, which the four-division lineal belt-holder won in overwhelming fashion.
The pair will be flying in Sunday in time for the start of sparring phase of the training regimen Monday.
The date to relocate the camp to the Roach-owned Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles hasn't been decided yet although Roach and Pacquiao's business consultant Mike Koncz agreed it should not be later than the first week of March.
Monday's session consisted of six rounds doing the mitts and two rounds each on the heavy bags, double end and speed balls, complete with shadow boxing and floor exercise.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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