Team Pacquiao starts Wild Card Phase
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 07 May 2012
With two more sparring partners joining the team, Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao enters the most difficult stage of his build-up program Monday (Tuesday in Manila) at Los Angeles? famous Wild Card Gym.
Their schedule consists of resumption of working with the mitts with chief trainer and Wild Card owner Freddie Roach plus rounds of punching the heavy bags, the double end ball and speed ball capped with the routine skipping rope.
Russian Ruslan Provodnikov, a power-punching welterweight prospect who had been trading punches with the World Boxing Organization 147-pound titlist the past three weeks remains in the sparring rotation when sparring starts Tuesday (L.A. time).
Also helping in the eight-division kingpin?s regimen to prepare for his title-defense confrontation with American Timothy Bradley are 147-pounder Wally Amatoso and one other 140-pound campaigner whose name Roach could not remember.
?The guy, whose name I can?t remember, has been knocking at Manny?s door for a long-time to be one of his sparring partners so we thought to give him a chance,? Roach recalled.
?We?ll be in the most crucial stage of preparation and Manny knows it?ll be way tougher than what we?d been in Baguio,? Roach told this writer in an interview at the airport before members of Team Pacquiao boarded PAL flight 102 for L.A.
?Manny?s been there though many times before and as before he?ll survive the test and hopefully, win again and have something to dedicate to the country and his people,? Roach said.
Tougher and harder, Roach asserted, because from seven rounds per sparring session, the most while in Baguio, the frequency will be increased gradually to eight to nine rounds and up to as high as 12 rounds.
Roach said he hopes the two-day rest the champ enjoyed since arriving in L.A. last Saturday would enough to serve as cushion to the gruelling phase he is facing in the final weeks of preparations.
The five-time trainer of the year, likewise, expressed hope that the Bible-preaching activities that remained the only distraction in the training program so far would be lessened this time.
?I don?t have problem with that really. But I hope such activities won?t last till dawn as they often happened in Manila,? Roach said.
?Manny?s preparing for a fight and needs the good rest he could possibly get,? he said. ? I was told that there are also many Filipinos in L.A. that belong to the same congregation.?
?I hope they?d understand and not bother Manny in times of training. They will have their time anyway after the fight,? Roach added.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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