PACQUIAO TO TRAIN IN CEBU
By Salven L. Lagumbay
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 01 Aug 2005
Reigning pound-for-pound icon Manny Pacquiao is set to spend some quality training sessions at the Cebu gym of boxing promoter Wakee Salud, before heading for the United States on Sunday to continue his training at the famed Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach in Los Angeles.
Pacquiao will arrive in Cebu on Thursday, and will immediately buckle down to work as he prepares for his September 10 non-title duel with Mexican Hector Velazquez at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, co-headlining a card with Mexican hero Erik Morales, who will take on ex-Olympian Zahir Raheem.
If both Morales and Pacquiao come out victorious on September 10, promoter Bob Arum has already lined up a December date with HBO for the duo to do a repeat of their March 19 showdown. The rematch is expected to be even bigger than their first encounter, which did tremendously in terms of live gate and pay-per-view buys.
"He's arriving on Thursday. But he will immediately leave for the US on Sunday," informed Wakee Salud in an interview yesterday from his Cebu base. Salud, who has produced world champions in Dodie Boy Penalosa, Gerry Penalosa and Malcolm Tunacao, is on the thick of things preparing his prized ward Yukka Gejon, who will vie for the WBA world 105-lb crown on September 25 in Yokohama, Japan.
Promoter Wakee Salud shakes hands with Japanese Shichiro Kimura in Tokyo after they seal the deal for the rematch between Rev Santillan and Kimura's protege Kazuhiko Hidaka for the OPBF welter title--PHOTO BY SALVEN LAGUMBAY
Salud also bared that he will have to do the necessary preparations in terms of security as throngs of fans are expected to line up at the gym's entrance just to take a look at Pacquiao, who remains largely popular despite reports of his nocturnal forays to cockfighting arenas and billiard parlors.
"He is still a hero to many, because his is a story of triumph over poverty," explains Salud, himself a wealthy self-made man.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Salven L. Lagumbay.
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