ROACH: PACMAN CAN KO BARRERA ANEW
By Emmanuel B. Villaruel
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 11 Sep 2007
Celebrated American trainer Freddie Roach said his prized ward Manny Pacquiao is capable of knocking out his Mexican rival Marco Antonio Barrera once again in their keenly-awaited rematch on October 6 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Roach said he holds Barrera with high esteem, but he firmly believes Pacquiao will knock him out again because Pacman is stronger and has improved a lot than their first encounter.
"Barrera has been knocked out only a couple of times in his life. He's a very tough guy. He can take a lot of punches," said Roach. "But I think Manny is much stronger now than he was the last time they fought. I do think Manny will knock him out again, yes. Somewhere along the way. But it will be a battle 'til that way comes."
Roach said is very happy with their preparations and that Pacquiao is going very fine.
"Overall, Manny is going fine. He's working on a few things, but everything is going in the right direction. I'm very happy with what we have right now," said Roach. "I want to make sure Manny will be ready for this guy. To me, I want him to win every round, one at a time. If it's a shutout, but if he knocks him out, then that's already a bonus."
Yesterday, Roach described Pacquiao as having a great day only that he was pissed off by Pacman's Mexican sparmates in Raymundo Beltran and David Rodela, who were left behind at the hotel and arrived late for their scheduled training at the world-class RWS Gym owned by top Cebuano boxingman Rex "Wakee" Salud.
"We had a pretty good day today (yesterday). We just had a little miscommunication with the sparring partners. It pissed me up a little bit, but hopefully that won't happen again," said Roach.
Still, Pacquiao logged in 10 more rounds of sparring - four against Aaron Melgarejo and three each against Beltran and Arniel Tinampay.
Pacquiao was in super form that he worked out with extended minutes. Roach wanted him to skip ropes for 10 minutes but Pacquiao made it 12.
"Pacquiao is now getting back in his old form. Barrera is in big trouble if Pacquiao's condition remains that way," said former two-division world champion Dodie Boy Pe?alosa, who serves as Pacman's conditioning coach.
Pacquiao skipped his early morning job yesterday, but made up for the lost time by running on the treadmill for 33 minutes at the fitness center of Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel where Team Pacman is billeted.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Emmanuel B. Villaruel.
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