IT?S ALL ABOUT SPEED
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 12 Oct 2011
Speed, not much of power and size, is what the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez Act III is all about, according to the Filipino icon?s chief trainer Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
?Yes, for the first time in three years, Manny is facing a fighter of his size, his built and as fast as he is. Meaning we have to build him up with emphasis on how he can be quicker with his movement without losing the power which has always been one of Manny?s biggest assets,? Roach told Malaya Business Insight in an interview before he and Team Pacquiao left for Los Angeles last week.
?It?s a given that Marquez is a very clever, smart fighter, one of the best counterpuncher in the business today. He?s fast, too, but because he?s adding weights, he might not be as fast as he used to be when Manny faces him on November 12,? the 51-year-old analyzed.
?And remember, he?s got older too at 38 as against Manny?s 32, reason why we have to change our game plan, ? he bared. ? While at the start we plan to finish him (Marquez) early, now it?s different. We?ll tire him out first then finish him.?
?Manny has been fighting bigger and heavier opponents since winning by a split decision over Marquez in 2008 so that in his last fights, we concentrated on making him grow bigger and heavier,? he explained.
?Now we have to revert him back to being a lightweight, which is Marquez?s natural weight. Or junior-welterweight,? Roach he said, adding he expects the Mexican legend called ?Dinamita? to weigh 138 top 140 pounds at weight-in and 144 at fight night.
Roach said Pacquiao, who is defending his World Boxing Organization welterweight crown in that Marquez fight in Las Vegas, on the other hand, weights between 147-148 when the team landed in L.A. and started training at the Wild Card Gym Monday.
The eight-division champ used to tip the scale at 142 pounds on weight-in day and 148 on fight night in his previous fights as a 147-pound campaigner
Ariza echoed Roach?s observation, saying his job of making the best pound-for-pound fighter in shape comes the day of reckoning had been made easier with the groundwork set in the team?s three-week stay in Baguio City.
?Baguio was a great start that set the foundation of what we have to do here in L.A.,? Ariza told this writer in an overseas telephone interview yesterday. ?Coupled with the circumstances attending the fight, like, both Manny and Marquez are of the same size make the job a little easier.?
?This fight is about quickness. Whoever comes up with the fastest feet, hands will be enjoying a big advantage, ? Ariza projected. ?
Ariza said Pacquiao?s first two days at Wild Card was dedicated to shedding off the jet lag brought about by the almost 13-hour trip from Manila last Saturday.
?He sparred for eight rounds Monday as scheduled before we left Manila, four with (Jorge) Linares and an additional four with Ray Beltran,? he said. ?He did the mitts today (Tuesday in the U.S.), the double-end ball and the speed ball, before making light conditioning exercises.?
?Sparring resumes Thursday and Saturday again against Beltran and another fighter brought in by cutman Miguel Diaz. Then we go into the nitty-gritty of why we?re here, plunge into the more serious parts of the preparedness program until we proceed to Las Vegas a week before the fight,? he said.
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