ROACH GIVES PACQUIAO A CLEAR TARGET
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 12 Oct 2008
Los Angeles, CA -- You really got to give it to Freddie Roach. He sure knows when to drive up the heat and further encourage Manny Pacquiao to work as hard as he could, have lots of fun in doing it and escalate the media frenzy and fans interest of the Dream Match on December 6th.
At their latest punch mitt session at the Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, Roach thrilled the selected few who happened to be allowed to watch the training of the Filipino spitfire.
Now that the weather has turned and the cool stiff air of fall has surfaced, Roach wanted to ?heat up the gym?, so to speak.
To do so, Roach donned a body protector with the picture of Oscar de la Hoya taped right smack in the middle, much like the ?bulls eye? at the dart board at Pacquiao?s condo.
The picture gave Pacquiao a constant reminder to smack the face of the Golden Boy and perhaps do what others have not done before and to drive up the hits on ODLH?s body, the apparent target Roach wanted Pacquiao to pepper with his blazing hooks.
The contraption put together by Roach will surely irk Team de la Hoya again, much like the famous toy pistol he waved at the face of de la Hoya during the Dream Match press tour at San Francisco.
That should generate a response from Team de la Hoya, particularly from Richard Schaefer who lately has been verbally sparring with Bob Arum about what his fighter can do to the Filipino idol. That of course will only pique fans interest. Read:- More PPV!
But then again, Roach?s latest antics could just be a joke to allow writers like me to have something else to write other than the usual good things happening at the Team Pacquiao training camp at the Wildcard Gym.
Clear Target: top photo shows Manny Pacquiao (R) hits a picture of Oscar de la Hoya that is placed on Freddie Roach's stomach protector for target practice.
Roach shows the specially made frame that could be attached to the stomach protector where a photo of Oscar de la Hoya has been placed.
Photos: Miguel Salazar.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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