ROACH SAYS HORN IS DANGEROUS AND PACQUIAO IS WAY BEHIND IN TRAINING
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 25 May 2017
"His second day of sparring today is maybe the worst I've ever seen so far," trainer Freddie Roach was quoted by the media. "His timing is really, really off."
Manny Pacquiao is seriously attending to his senate duties which consumed much of his time and the energy of his 38-year-old physique. Roach has been pushing the fighting lawmaker not to take the 29-year-old Aussie lightly who knocked out his last three opponents.
Pacquiao gives priority to his promise to his constituents to be the best public servant he can be.
"He's dangerous with the right, he's has a real good right hook, and that's something that Manny's been hit with before," said Roach of Horn. He must be referring to Juan Manuel Marquez's right hand which hit Pacquiao's mouth causing the champ to fell face first to the canvas during their fourth encounter.
Pacquiao sparred with lightweight Leonardo Doronio (15-14, with 10 KOs) and super lightweight Sonney Katiandagho ( 11-2, with 6 KOs) as reported by philstar.com.
Both boxers gave Pacquiao nice exchanges in five rounds sometimes hitting the eight division world champion. This caused Roach to comment that their training is way behind schedule.
But the legendary trainer is still confident his favorite boxer can catchup after the senate goes on a recess.
"He needs to use his speed, his footwork, and his boxing ability'" commented Roach on Manny Pacquiao's techniques to beat Horn.
Horn won his last three bouts by stoppages against American Randall Bailey, German Rico Mueller and South African Ali Funeka. They were not world class fighters like Pacquiao but were considered worthy opponents.
Horn used superior body work which broke Bailey down and did not get off his stool after the end of round seven.
Horn beat Mueller by TKO at 2:19 in round 9. Mueller lost for the first time in six years and was stopped for the first time in his career.
Horn blasted the 38-year-old Funeka with two-handed blows right from the opening bell. The referee stopped the fight 30 seconds into the sixth round when Funeka was wobbling in his feet after a second knockdown after receiving flurry of punches to the head.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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