KONCZ ALLAYS FEARS THAT PACQUIAO IS TAKING IT EASY
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 06 Feb 2010
Michael Koncz.
“Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz has allayed fears that Pacquiao is taking it easy in his preparation for the March 13 showdown against Ghana’s tough Joshua Clottey where Pacquiao puts his WBO welterweight title on the line at the $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas.
Reports filtering out of the Pacquiao training camp said that he had missed jogging on a couple of days because he woke up late but Koncz conceded he had missed only two days and that was because he was feeling tired after a hard workout the previous day.
Koncz also pointed out that Pacquiao “never jogs on sparring days.”
Pacquiao sparred eight rounds Thursday with former sparring partner Raymond Beltran and another young fighter and according to one reports we received Pacquiao didn’t look too impressive although this happens occasionally during Pacquiao’s training.
Koncz said Pacquiao wanted to go two more rounds but it didn’t happen.
Pacquiao’s training staff was earlier criticized over reports that he had sparred with and beaten up a fighter named Bryan Brooks with an 0-6 record and one other report that claimed he took 17 year old light welterweight Jose Benavidez to school in a three-round sparring session without pointing out that the promising young fighter had only recently made his pro debut and won by a first round knockout.
We were unable to contact trainer Freddie Roach who had left for Fort Lauderdale, Florida where his super bantamweight prot?g?, Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (4-0, 3 KO’s) faces Adolfo Landeros (20-12-1, 9 KO’s) in an eight round bout at the Don Taft University Center on Saturday, Manila Time or conditioning expert Alex Ariza who was unavailable.
Koncz also said that Pacquiao was late for training one day because he had met with Steven Segal who told Pacquiao to remember that all his blessings come from God even as, according to Koncz, Segal snapped his fingers and said “God can take it away just like that.”
When we expressed concern over reports we received about Pacquiao’s apparent lack of consistent intensity in training compared to his preparation for previous fights Koncz said “believe me everything is fine, Manny is relaxed and looking good.”
Earlier, GMA 7 News telecast an interview with Pacquiao in which he assailed those who spread rumors about his private life and indicated he had asked his lawyers to study taking legal action against the people concerned. Pacquiao accused these individuals of “trying to ruin my name and trying to wreck my family. It's not good for us.” Speaking in Pilipino he said they are even trying to make my wife and I separate and asked “what kind of people are they?”
Meantime Jinkee Pacquiao, the wife of the pound-for-pound king is booked to fly to Los Angeles next Tuesday according to Koncz. When we spoke to him about large numbers of people gathering at the Palazzo Apartment until late at night and disturbing Pacquiao, Koncz said Pacquiao was at his home in the affluent neighborhood of Hancock Park and was in his room by 9 p.m. watching movies.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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