NO DISTRACTIONS FOR PACQUIAO
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 14 Nov 2013
GENERAL SANTOS CITY ? Eleven days into his crucial encounter with American Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios, Filipino ring hero Manny Pacquiao is not about to waste one single day preparing for the fight that could probably decide the remaining days of his boxing career.
Pacquiao, in fact, is set to continue with his training regimen until Monday, the day he and his team is scheduled to leave for Macau, venue of his 12-round rendezvous with the former world lightweight belt owner, by deciding to fly direct to that Chinese vice capital via a private plane direct from this town where he had pitched camp nine weeks ago.
?As what have been started, Manny doesn?t want any distractions whatsoever in his preparations so he ruled out the circuitous route of going to Manila from here and waste two or three days before proceeding to Macau,? Pacman?s business manager Michael Koncz said yesterday by way in explaining the decision to go straight to the battle site.
Had the eight-division champion opted otherwise, Team Pacquiao would have to leave the gym this city Friday, fly to Manila Saturday and Macau not earlier than Monday, squandering at least two days that would have been spent in the gym.
As it is, the Pacman would be following his training schedule until Saturday, rest on Sunday then come back to his traditional roadwork Monday morning then to his own Pacman Wild Card Gym in the afternoon before taking a private plane later in the day.
?At this stage of his build up program, missing even a day of gym activities could prove fatal,? Koncz surmised.
?Team Pacquiao is definitely flying to Macau Monday from GenSan,? Koncz assured this writer. ?With him in that plane will be his training staff (head trainer Freddie Roach and assistants Marvin Somodio, Buboy Fernandez, Nonoy Neri and Roger Fernandez),? he said.
?I don?t know who the others outside of the team will be in the plane. Maybe Jinkee (Pacquiao?s Sarangani vice governor wife) might,? Konz added.
Koncz said he will be leaving a day ahead on Sunday to pave the way for Team Pacquiao?s arrival and to attend to several pre-fight activities the Fighter of the Decade has to meet.
On Tuesday, Pacquiao and Rios will meet ahead of their schedule showdown during the traditional arrival ceremonies at the lobby of the Venetian Resort Hotel where the fight venue Cotai Arena is situated.
Pacquiao and Rios will be disputing the World Boxing Organization international welterweight crown in their separate first fight following defeats in their previous fights.
Pacquiao himself will be trying to erase the enigma of a back-to-back setbacks suffered in 2012, a first in his 18-year professional calling that started when he was still a 105-pound campaigner on the way to becoming the first man to win 10 world championships in eight divisions.
He, too, emerged the only fighter in the history of sweet science to be crowned lineal champion in four weight classes ? flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight and super-featherweight. A lineal title is bestowed to the ?man who beats the Man,? an honor as prestigious if not more prestigious than the eight-division titlist.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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