?We?ll prepare Pacquiao for a KO win? - Somodio
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 26 Aug 2013
MANILA (PNA) -- Come-backing eight division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao will be getting the best training camp he could get in his career.
Thus vowed Hall of Fame American chief trainer Freddie Roach as told to his Filipino assistant Marvin Somodio.
?We will be preparing Manny to win by knockout, no more, no less,? Somodio said in an email message to this writer quoting Roach. ?Coach Freddie knows how important Manny?s coming fight with Brandon Rios for the remainder of his career, kaya he prepared a build up regimen needed to achieve our purpose.?
Somodio, who has been working at Roach?s Wild Card Gym in downtown Hollywood in Los Angeles for more than a year, was referring to Pacquiao?s 12-round encounter with Rios this coming November 24 in Macau (Nov 23 in the U.S.) where the Filipino ring idol will try to bounce back from a twin defeats he suffered in his only two fights last year.
Somodio bared that Roach will be coming to Manila on October 7 to oversee the extensive training regimen the Pacman will undergo from early October till late November in General Santos City.
?One month itatagal ng camp sa GenSan before proceeding to Macau for the remaining two weeks of preparations,? the young former amateur fighter from Iloilo disclosed. ?That?s the plan, at least for now. Kung me mababago man, it depends on the developments from now until late September.
?Coach Freddie hasn?t revealed yet what kind of preparations awaits, but what he told us is that it will be the toughest ever for Manny in an effort to keep in him focused in training without any distractions which affected his build up program before,? he assured.
Promising British light-middleweight campaigner Liam Vaughan and Chinese counterpart Lian Hui have been tapped as to of Pacman?s sparring mates in the early stage of the camp.
Vaughan is a 23-year-old Liverpool native who owns a 7-1 win-loss record in his just starting pro-career. He came to the Wild Card Gym only a few months ago but has caught already the attention of Roach and his team with is impressive sparring performances with world contenders Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Peter Quillin, James MartIrosyan and Alfonso Gomez, among others, in his early stint.
Lian Hui (aka Ik Yang) , 28, has a 13-0 win-loss slate with 9 KOs. He was born in a Chinese commune Dan Dalian but is now based in Anyang, South Korea where he started his pro-calling.
Pacquiao, who will be a few weeks short of turning 35 on the day of his fight with Rios, has actually pitched his GenSan camp last week by starting with his condition-recovery aspect of preparations, running for 15 minutes at the P. Acharon Sports Center oval that city.
Last week's activities also included gym workout at his GenSan version of Wild Card, doing mitts with childhood pal and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez, limbering up exercises, punching the heavy bags, double end and speed ball and skipping rope.
?Manny looks trim and fit, kasi naglalaro naman siya ng volleyball at basketball to stay in condition while in inactivity from boxing since early this year,? Fernandez said of his friend.
Fernandez said opening the GenSan camp was on Pacquiao?s own volition and will go on until Roach and his Wild Card team arrives.
?Alam naman ni Manny kung ano ang napapaloob sa labang darating kaya ngayon pa lang nag-desisyon na sya na simulan na ang camp,? Fernandez said. ?Dito na lang kami sa GenSan para wala nang istorbo. Nandito na ang family nya at constituents para hindi na sya magpaparoon at parito sa gitna ng ensayo.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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