WITH ROACH'S ARRIVAL, PACQUIAO'S TRAINING WILL GO INTO HIGH GEAR STARTING MONDAY
By Eddie Alinea of Spin.ph
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 20 May 2017
Manny Pacquiao?s fine-tuning regimen shifts to high-gear starting Monday next week with the arrival of chief trainer Freddie Roach, the man who guided him from an obscure junior-flyweight campaigner to a world champion in eight weight divisions.
Roach flies in from Los Angeles Sunday morning to take over running the fighting Senator?s training for his coming title fight with Australian contender Jeff Horn scheduled a month and two weeks from now.
Roach is coming with strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune in tow at a time when the defending World Boxing Organization welterweight belt-owner had completed his initial two weeks of light preparations that started last May 8.
Pacquiao, now 38 and the nine-year his junior former schoolteacher crown pretender trade punches on July at the 55,000 Suncorp Arena at the Queensland capital city of Brisbane in a fight billed as the biggest boxing event held Down Under.
?Yes, coach Freddie is definitely arriving tomorrow to supervise the senator?s training program,? Choi Garcia, the Sarangani lawmaker?s executive director in his Senate office, told Spin.ph in a cell phone interview Saturday.
Assistant trainers Buboy Fernandez and Roger ?Haplas? Fernandez, confirmed the arrival the Hall of Fame trainer, who, actually, will be celebrating his and Pacquiao?s successful 16-year trainer-boxer relationship on June 23, a little over a week before the Pacquiao-Horn 12-round scrap.
It was on June 23, 2001 when Pacquiao, the former two-time Sarangani congressman first fought in the United States under the tutelage of Roach as a substitute challenger against South African Lehlo Ledwaba whom he forced to surrender after six rounds to win the International Boxing Federation super-bantamweight championship, his second following his reign as Wold Boxing Council flyweight titlist, too.
?Okay na, ready na si Manny to go into the tougher stage of preparations,? Buboy said as he and Haplas prepared for their boyhood friend?s week-ending training session Saturday at the Elorde Gym at the Mall of Asia compound in Pasay City.
?With the rust brought about by six months of ring inactivity gone and a little of his speed and punching power recovered, we can now move towards the more rigid phase of the program,? Buboy disclosed.
?Ibig sabihin, simula sa Lunes, we will be concentrating on improving the gains we have achieved the past two weeks in terms of conditioning, and ringmanship,? Buboy stressed.
Buboy said after next week, as the senate sessions go into recess, the frequency will be harder and longer until the team leaves for Brisbane probably two weeks before the bout.
?With coach Freddie here, tigil na muna ang basketball, pagpupuyat at pag-attend sa kung ano-anong social functions,? he added. ?Except, of course, those in relation with his duties as a senator.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea of Spin.ph.
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