PACQUIAO SPARMATES AND THE PERSPECTIVE THEY BRING TO THE TRAINING
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 27 May 2008
Los Angeles, CA:- You really have to give it to Freddie Roach. The fellow is a master in his trade. (Don?t we all know that by now?) But really, he is great in what he does.
Case in point:- Selecting the sparmates of WBC 130lb World Champion Manny Pacquiao as he prepares to challenge WBC lightweight champ David Diaz.
Roach picked three fighters who are all based in Southern California for apparent specific reasons. The three each have varying fight experiences, physical build-up and weight class.
First, they are all local or at least as in the case of a boxer from Scotland, they live in the area. Thus, there is no problem about them getting stuck in bad traffic and missing a sparring date.
Second, they are all heavier than the contractual fight weight of the Diaz-Pacquiao tiff. They are light-welters or welterweights.
The first one is a Filipino-Puerto Rican light welterweight. His name is Carlos Tangaro. I spoke to Tangaro to get background info for this article and Tangaro specifically asked me to get his name right. ?They always mis-spell it,? he said. ?So please make sure you get it right?, he added.
Tangaro was born and raised in Hawaii. His Mom was also Hawaiian-born but his grandparents were straight from the Philippines. ?They come from a place I can not pronounce he said, but just the same, they instilled Filipino values in us?, Tangaro stated.
His dad is from Puerto Rico. Tangaro now lives and trains at Cochella Valley, California.
Tangaro is a relatively new fighter. He had only two fights both of which were held at the Morongo Casino Spa and Resort in Cabazon, California. Tangaro won both of them. From what we have seen, Tangaro was apparently hired because of his forward moving style similar to what is expected of David Diaz. He is also young, energetic and quiet fast. He is an appropriate opponent for Pacquiao to hone his hand speed and foot work. In fact, during the sparring session last Saturday at the Wildcard, that is exactly what Pacquiao did. He brushed up his footwork and hand speed as he clash with the fast- moving Puerto Rican- Pinoy.
The second sparmate is Steve Quinones. Quiniones was born in Riverside, California but lives and trains in Palm Springs, California. Quiniones is not a ?newbie?. He holds a record of 31-12-1 (3KO) He fought his earlier fights as a lightweight but most recently he had been campaigning as a light welterweight. Amongst the named fighters he has faced were Steve Forbes, Lovemore N?dou, Jose Luis Castillo and the late Diego Corrales. Quiniones was once a NABF and WBC FedCarbox Lightweight champion.
Quiniones physically appears bigger than Pacquiao. It is for that reason that Pacquiao can unload his heavy bombs on him and get the feel of throwing them on a heavier moving target that can also hit back.
The third sparmate is a youngster from Scotland. His name is Gary McMillen. McMillen is a Brit of Scottish decent. He is a natural welterweight. Although he does not have the same number of fights like Quiniones, McMillen brings a different perspective in the sparring session. He is taller than Pacquiao and has a longer reach. This gives Pacquiao the ability to prepare for Diaz who has a longer reach than Pacquiao.
With his sparmates presenting him a different perfective in terms of speed, weight and reach Pacquiao will no doubt be prepared for whatever Diaz can offer.
If Diaz elects to fight speed for speed, Pacquiao will be well prepared. If Diaz will stand his ground and go for heavy bombs, Pacquiao will be primed to throw his own. And, if Diaz chose to fight from the outside and use his longer reach, Pacquiao will be well honed to penetrate and throw his killer left hand.
All of these because Roach was an ace in picking sparmates that allowed Pacquiao to hone his skills in many different ways to address whatever Diaz will bring on June 28th.
Tangaro (R).
Quiniones (R).
McMillen (R).
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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