MANNY IS GETTING MORE AGGRESSIVE SAYS ROACH
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 27 Jun 2019
Pacquiao does the mitts with Roach Monday in LA.
Manny Pacquiao trained assiduously for the July 20 WBA unification match with Keith Thurman under comebacking full-time trainer Freddie Roach at his world famous Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. Roach believed that while Pacquiao's being a religious devotee had minimized his killer instinct, the eight division champion has developed his aggression.
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"Manny's work ethic is great," Roach said. "He works hard, and is incredibly dedicated. But he doesn't have the killer instinct that he used to have. I think religion took that away from us. For a while he would tell me that he just needs to beat his opponents and not knock them out. But he doesn't say that any more. He's getting more aggressive."
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Roach saw that his favorite fighter has turned out to be more aggressive in his last fight. "He was more aggressive in his last fight than I've seen him in years. I hope that continues into this fight. Because when Manny's aggressive he's a much better fighter," added the Hall of Fame trainer.
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?Keith Thurman reminds me of the Cotto fight,? Pacquiao was quoted by Boxing Scene, referring to Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto. He is the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes. Pacquiao battered and stopped Cotto in the 12th round in November 2019.
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As quoted by AFP, Pacquiao said Thurman?s trash talking remarks had fired up his training as the American promised to "crucify" him and send him to retirement. Pacquiao answered: "My response to him is we'll see. He is giving me more motivation and determination to work hard and prove that it's not true. I'm happy that he's saying that ... It gives me inspiration to focus and do the best that I can in the ring."
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Thurman (29-0, 22KOs) has periods of inactivity in his reign as WBA" super" welterweight champion due to injuries, having fought just once each in 2016 winning by unanimous decision over Shawn Porter and in 2017, winning over Danny Garcia by split decision. He had no fight in 2018 but returned atop the ring last January of this year winning a 12-round majority decision over Josesito Lopez.
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Thurman's coming match with Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39KOs) will be the undefeated fighter's first time in four years where he fought an interval of six months or less. Pacquiao also fought one week before Thurman?s victory over Lopez last January, where he crushed the challenger former four-division titlist Adrien Broner. Thurman will debut as a PPV headliner, while Pacquiao has done it several times in a storied boxing career.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo of Greece is the fifth non-American player to win MVP honors in the NBA. The others were Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria, Tim Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Steve Nash of Canada, and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the NBA MVP award a record six times. He also became the only player to win the MVP despite his team failing to enter the playoffs in the 1975?76 season. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won the MVP five times, while Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James each won the award four times. Russell and James won the award four times in five seasons.
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Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson each won the award three times. Bob Pettit, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry have each won the award twice. Only two rookies became MVP, Chamberlain in the 1959?60 season and Wes Unseld in the 1968?69 season.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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