ARUM SAYS NOBODY CAN BEAT PACQUIAO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 20 Feb 2008
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum visited Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao to watch him workout under celebrated trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles yesterday and said later ?when Manny is focused and trains properly nobody in the world can beat him.?
In an overseas telephone conversation with Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today, Arum revealed that Pacquiao trained for ?two hours without a break. I never saw a guy train like this.?
Arum said Pacquiao ? is in such incredible shape its almost unbelievable. I have never seen anything like this.? Asked about the problems surrounding Pacquiao such as the fraud in which his driver Joseph Jose?s wife Pia Quijada is accused of siphoning off some $180,000 from one of Pacquiao?s bank accounts on Sunset Boulevard, Arum said it hasn?t had any effect on him adding ?its like water off the back. It has had no effect. I have never seen him more focused, more content with himself.?
Responding to Arum?s report on a fantastic workout by Manny, Roach told us ?he has a fantastic workout every day.? However, Roach said Pacquiao didn?t do any sparring but will take on tough and talented, undefeated Mexican Carlito Garcia who approximates the counter-punching style of Juan Manuel Marquez and Daniel Cervantes who Roach described as " a tough kid? with whom Pacquiao has gone toe-to-toe in previous sparring sessions.
Roach also noted that Pacquiao wasn?t thinking of the problems surrounding Team Pacquiao and added, ?he is very focused and I haven?t seen him so focused since the first (Marco Antonio) Barrera fight? which was on November 15, 2003 at the Alamadome in San Antonio Texas. In that fight Pacquiao demolished the Mexican legend in eleven rounds.
However, Arum said all reports indicated that WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez was also training very hard for their March 15 rematch at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas in a fight titled ?Unfinished Business.?
Arum proudly proclaimed that right now he has the three best and most exciting fighters in the world ? Manny Pacquiao, Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto which clearly is a remarkable achievement since it was Arum who really nurtured the careers of all three.
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