Manny switches sparmates
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 13 Aug 2021
LOS ANGELES. Now that Manny Pacquiao will face right-hander Yordenis Ugas instead of southpaw Errol Spence at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on August 21, he’s making adjustments in his sparring partners to prepare for the switch. It’s no big deal as Pacquiao said Ugas fights like Spence anyway in that they’re both aggressive and like to stick the jab.
Pacquiao spars Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at the Wild Card Gym here with coaches Freddie Roach, Buboy Fernandez, Nonoy Neri and Marvin Somodio watching over him. The day after the switch was announced, Pacquiao went eight rounds with fresh orthodox recruit Arnold Gonzalez and two rounds each with holdovers Ivan Redkach and Giovanni Cabrera, both southpaws who shifted to orthodox.
Somodio said the adjustment is minor. “It’s more difficult if you’re preparing for a right-hander then your opponent is changed to southpaw,” he said. “For Manny, he’s used to right-handers so even if he’s been training for a southpaw, it’s easy to adjust to sparring orthodox. His power, speed and stamina will be the same either way.”
Gonzalez, 26, sparred with Pacquiao when he trained for Keith Thurman in 2019. He’s a two-time Golden Gloves national champion and since turning pro two years ago, the New Yorker has compiled a 7-0 record, with 3 KOs. Cabrera, 27, is an unbeaten superfeatherweight with an 18-0 record, including 7 KOs. Redkach 35, is a Ukrainian veteran with a 23-6-1 record, including 18 KOs. Maurice Lee and Alexis Rocha were previously in Pacquiao’s sparring team.
Lee, 29, sparred with Pacquiao for two weeks. The consensus was he fought too much like Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and that didn’t suit what Roach looked for in a sparmate for Pacquiao. Lee was Mayweather’s chief sparmate when he prepared for Pacquiao and Conor McGregor. His record is 12-1-2, with 5 KOs. “I rate Manny’s speed and power at an elite level,” said Lee. “The only weakness I see that Manny could have is if he doesn’t execute his gameplan. Besides that, I give Manny all the advantages in this fight. The more we sparred, he started to adjust and did things he hadn’t done before. I feel as long as Manny is first and stays off the ropes, he’ll win. I see Manny landing the harder shots because he’s so unpredictable.”
Lee said Pacquiao is working like he’s not 42. “The way Manny is moving is amazing,” he continued. “I don’t see his age having an effect on him. He’s moving around like me, he trains extremely hard. My advice to Manny is to be first and come out of each exchange in an angle and use feints and to stay off the ropes.”
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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