PACQUIAO AT HIS BEST IN SPARRING WITH PORTER; PACQUIAO-MARQUEZ III UPDATE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 28 Apr 2011
Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao was at his best in sparring ten rounds at the Wild Card Gym on Tuesday and his six rounds with undefeated welterweight Shawn Porter (18-0, 13 KO's) and four rounds with longtime sparring partner Raymund Beltran were described as amazing.
Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza told the Inquirer that he doesn?t wish to exaggerate by saying he had never seen better sparring but stressed ?I actually mean it. I?ve never seen better sparring. Manny is just on. His timing, his speed, his size. Simply awesome.?
He said ?I normally don?t worry because Manny is just perfect right now in his conditioning. I hope nothing goes wrong.?
Ariza described the six rounds with Porter as ?very good. Exciting. Some of the best boxing I?ve seen. I don?t have anything to say except that Manny looks great. I don?t like to see Manny throw punches like that but it was some of the best boxing I?ve seen. He is ready.?
While conversing over dinner, Pacquiao told Ariza he felt so good prompting the strength and conditioning guru to request him ?to take it easy a little bit. Slow down a little.?
Ariza remarked that former two division world champion Gerry Penalosa who watched Pacquiao spar said ?he looks so big and strong. And his speed. Unbelievable.?
Meantime, Pacquiao?s adviser Michael Koncz confirmed that Top Rank Promotions had formalized an offer for Juan Manuel Marquez for a third fight with Pacquiao which is something Marquez has always wanted.
Arum had told the Inquirer even before Pacquiao formally signed up to fight Floyd Mayweather on May 7 that a trilogy with Marquez was likely to take place in November. Although no details have been released Koncz said he would give the Inquirer additional details tomorrow.
Top Rank, through its lawyers, has sent a formal offer to Golden Boy Promotions because even though Golden Boy's promotional agreement with the lightweight champion has expired they still exercise the option until February next year to match any offer made to Marquez.
Boxing writer Kevin Iole earlier quoted Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer as saying "Last Friday, April 22, Top Rank made a firm offer to Juan Manuel Marquez to fight Manny Pacquiao in October for his WBO 147-pound belt. Part of the deal includes a rematch provision in case Marquez would win. So Pacquiao could potentially be tied up for quite awhile."
Schaefer told Iole that the offer contained details of the guaranteed purse as well as a rundown of the pay-per-view share for the Mexican legend who had two enthralling and close fight against Pacquiao. He salvaged a draw in their first meeting where Marquez survived three knockdowns in the opening round and lost a controversial split decision in a rematch where a knockdown in round four gave Pacquiao the edge.
Team Pacquiao insiders have speculated that the Top Rank offer may me designed to scuttle efforts of Golden Boy to re-sign Marquez following a meeting with the three division champion some weeks ago in Mexico.
It may well be another aspect of the continuing struggle between the arch promotional rivals which was recently aggravated when WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire signed up with Golden Boy claiming a "breach of contract" by Top Rank for its failure to give Donaire three fights a year as stipulated in his contract.
Top Rank has also reportedly made a good offer to Marquez which Golden Boy may not wish to match paving the way for Marquez to get what he wants and for Top Rank to effectively get one over their arch rivals.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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