UPDATES ON PACQUIAO'S TRAINING
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 23 Apr 2012
BAGUIO CITY ? Manny Pacquiao?s sparring might have to wait for another week. Not because his scheduled mate ? Rusian Provodnikov of Russia isn?t coming but because the Filipino World Boxing Organization welterweight belt-owner had a ?good week? in his training camp here trainer Freddie Roach decided to forego the sparring until Saturday next week.
?It was a very good week. We have attained what we had wanted to attain so I decided to give Manny a break. Sparring session starts on Saturday,? Roach told this writer in an interview at the Shape Up Boxing Gym inside the Cooyeesan Hotel, home of Team Pacquiao training in the Pines City.
?The two-week advanced training Manny had, indeed, produced good results. He was very good in doing the mitts with me was amazing in the conditioning aspect of preparations,? Roach said.
?He?s been on the road the whole morning since he arrived here Tuesday night and inside the gym in the entire afternoon till last Friday,? he said. ?I can?t ask for more.?
Roach said that sparring in the last six weeks of the fine-tuning program will just be ideal with the way Pacquiao spent three weeks of priming up that started in taking the road inside the subdivision in Sta. Rosa in Laguna where his family resides.
Pacquiao followed it up with another week in General Santos City during Holy Week under the guidance of boyhood assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez.
Roach would not admit though that the change in schedule was to avoid Pacquiao being over-trained, a suspicion blamed by many for his lackluster performance against Juan Manuel Marquez in Act III of their trilogy last November.
Provodnikov, a 28-year-old promising junior-welterweight prospect was to arrive last night (Monday) from his hometown Beryosovo in Russia.
?I will make him observe Manny first to study what he can do to help in training at the same time gain experience facing a tough, experienced fighter like Manny he could use in pursuing his boxing career,? Roach explained.
Roach said Provodnikov would be an ideal sparring partner for Pacquiao because of having a fighting style approximating that of Tim Bradley, the undefeated junior-welterweight champion whom the Filipino icon will be staking his 147-pound diadem on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Standing 5-foot-6, virtually the same as Pacquiao, Provodnikov can provide the Filipino pointers on how to box with a fight, a fighter his size, an experienced he failed to get fighting big men in his last six fights.
Provodnikov owns an enviable 21-1 win-loss record since turning pro in 2006 suffering his lone defeat at the hands of Mauricio Herrera.
He more than made up for that though by rocking up four straight victory ? a pair of TKOs, one KO and another via unanimous decision. He stopped David Torres last January 7, dropping his opponents thrice before being awarded with a TKO win.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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