PACQUIAO CLOSES SUCCESSFUL CEBU TRAINING CAMP WITH 10-ROUND SPARRING SESSION
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 22 Sep 2007
CEBU CITY -- Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao capped his Cebu training camp with a 10-round sparring session at the RWS Boxing Gym here Friday. Pacquiao has now logged a total of 112 rounds of sparring before leaving for Los Angeles where he will wind down his training at Freddie Roach's Wildcard Gym.
Mexican Raymundo Beltran, who looks big as a super feather and who will have a fight in Sacramento next week, opened the sparring session with Pacquiao for three rounds.
Filipino super feather Aaron Melgarejo came in next for another three rounds where Pacquiao showed a variety of moves including well-timed powerful uppercuts that had Melgarejo's uncle-trainer former RP super bantam champ Dino Olliveti visibly worried.
"Ako ang napa-iling pag tinatamaan si Aaron ng mga uppercuts ni Pacquiao," Olivetti said afterwards adding "pero tinatanong ko siya (Melgarejo) kung nasasaktan ba siya, kaya na man daw."
Mexican David Rodela completed the sparring with four rounds of torrid exchanges with Pacquiao in close quarters that had left a select audience of mediamen and Pacquiao's circle of friends in awe.
All in all, the general feeling of those who were watching Pacquiao's sparring was that it would be very difficult for Barrera to come up with a strategy to thwart the Filipino dynamo who was a combination of speed, power, stamina and heart.
Away from the prying eyes of the Barrera spies and with celebrated trainer Freddie Roach 100% focus on Pacquiao, the month-long Cebu training camp has come to an end. Even with its distractions of uncontrolled visitors during the early days and the overall worry of boxing fans about the wisdom of its choice, was apparently a huge success and has fully served its purpose.
Pacquiao was set to leave for Manila at 6 pm last night via Cebu Pacific and will board tonight's PAL flight for Los Angeles after doing some workout at Rod Nazario's Wildcard Gym in Paranaque in the afternoon.
Pacquiao and Barrera will face each other in a highly anticipated rematch at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 6 (Oct. 7 Manila time).
Top photo: Manny Pacquiao (L) throws a straight left on Mexican sparring partner David Rodela as trainers Freddie Roach and Buboy Fernandez intently watch the action during yesterday's last day of training in Cebu at the RWS Boxing Gym. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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