PACQUIAO VOWS TO TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 05 Oct 2012
GENERAL SANTOS CITY(PNA) - Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao yesterday vowed to kill himself in training to ensure that he will be in top shape when he fights Mexican tormentor Juan Manuel Marquez in Act IV of their storied rivalry on December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"Yes, I will be focusing more on training for this fight even to the extent of killing myself at the training camp," the 'Fighter of the Decade' honoree told People's Journal in an interview during his roadwork at the General Santos Sports Complex oval here.
"Not that I have not been working hard in training in my latest fights. I did, in fact. But this is a different fight, one that will erase the ignominy of me winning two of our first three fights only to return back to our country getting the flak for a less impressive victory," Pacquiao, who along with wife Jinkee, trainers Buboy Fernandez and Haplas Fernandez and his security group, headed by Caloy Homo, did 30 rounds in the rubber-coated track.
" I feel I owe it to the boxing fans, especially to our countrymen, to prove that my twin wins and a draw were no fluke," he vowed. " At ang kanilang pagdududa, lalo na ni Marquez na siyam na taon nang ipinamamalita na tinalo niya ako ng tatlong beses, ay walang basehan."
"I knocked him down three times in the first round alone in our first encounter. That resulted in a draw. I dropped him again once in the second to settle for a split decision, tapos sasabihing I robbed him of wins," he recalled.
"Ngayon, matatapos na ang mga pagdududang iyan. Paghahandaan kong mabuti ang laban para tapusin na ang isyu at matigil na ang lahat nang doubts," he declared.
To accomplish his mission, the eight-division champion said he will heed all the instructions of his training staff, headed by chief trainer Freddie Roach with the brothers Fernandez as assistants.
He echoed Buboy's earlier statement that the theme of the first and second legs of the camp is to relive the moment in his career when he had been winning via stoppage on the way to becoming the only man in the history of boxing to crown himself champion in eight weight divisions.
"Yun nga, bubuhayin naming muli ang memorable moments in my career by turning back the hands of time when training camp is just like that, training camp," he said. "Walang distractions, puro paghahanda."
"Kaya napagkaisahan namin na i-advance ang camp dito sa GenSan at hindi sa Baguio ng dalawang linggo di gaya noong una na walong linggo. Ngayon 10 linggo ang preparasyong gagawin namin," Pacquiao bared.
"The main camp, of course is the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. It is there where we will decide what kind of victory ang gagawin namin sa laban," he said. "Madugo yun kaya bago pa lamang dumating sa Amerika, sisiguruhin namin na handa na ang katawan ko sa hirap na dadanasin ko."
"As of now, we are concentrating more on roadwork so I can recover my stamina lost in some four months of inactivity following my loss to (Timothy) Bradley. Kung nandoon na ang stamina, hindi na gaanong mahirap ang susunod na camp.," he narrated.
"Sanay na naman ako sa hardwork even in my early days as a fighter. Kaya nga lang, nitong mga huling laban ko, marami na akong involvement sa iba't-ibang linyang napasukan ko. Nandyan ang entertainment, tv host at pulitika. Medyo hindi naging focused ang paghahanda," he admitted.
"When we get to the U.S., pahinga muna ako sa mga yan. I will be focusing more on my build up program, " he promised.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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