ROACH: MANNY READY TO GO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 25 Sep 2007
Even as the Philippines national treasure Manny Pacquiao prepares for his final week of sparring at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach in Los Angeles, Roach says his prized possession ?is ready to go.?
Roach told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that Pacquiao is ?sharp and in shape? and he may have to pull him back a little bit because he doesn?t want Manny ?to go over? and hit his peak too early.
Pacquiao, eager to reach new heights in his preparation for the rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera with the possible No.1 spot on the prestigious Ring Magazine?s pound-for-pound list at stake, didn?t take a rest day on Sunday. Chino Trinidad of Solar Sports and GMA 7 who will telecast the Pacquiao-Marco Antonio Barrera rematch on Sunday, October 7 (Manila Time) said that instead of taking the day off Pacquiao ran for some thirty minutes at Park La Brea which is a sprawling apartment complex in the Miracle Mile District of Los Angeles. Shortly after his run Pacquiao did two rounds of intense shadow boxing.
Roach noted that when he left Manila, Pacquiao weighed 132 pounds because his weight ?came off a little faster in Cebu because it was hot and humid? compared to Los Angeles. He said it posed no problem as all he needed to do was to drink more liquids.
Roach dismissed rumors that WBA champion Edwin Valero reportedly knocked Barrera out in sparring. ? He said it?s ?a press thing trying to get us to take him lightly. I bet they never even boxed.? Roach said he knew Barrera very well and he spars with young guys saying that ?as a veteran he doesn?t need to work. He just uses sparring to keep his eyes sharp.?
Barrera has been training in Guadalajara with his family around and even his longtime trainer Rudy Perez is not there. According to Roach it's Barrera?s brother who is training him.
No matter what, said Roach, he believes that at this point Pacquiao is ?too fast, too strong and too good? for the 33 year old Mexican icon and that since their first clash on November 15, 2003 in which Pacquiao demolished Barrera in eleven rounds, Manny has become ?a much better fighter. More mature and a more solid 130 pounds because he?s used to the weight now..?
Roach said Pacquiao ?punches a lot harder than he did in the first fight and while Barrera has had some great fights, he?s on the downside a little bit and I don?t think he is what he was the last time Pacquiao fought him.? However, Roach was a little cautious pointing out that ?if Barrera has one more good fight left in him, this is it.?
The two-time ?Trainer of the Year? who has earned the respect and affection of millions of Filipino boxing fans because of what he has done for Pacquiao, turning him into the most exciting fighter in the world today believes he is No.1 on the pound-for-pound list and an impressive performance in the rematch against Barrera will seal it for him in the reckoning of Ring Magazine, regarded as the ?Bible? of boxing.
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