Manny keeps weight in check at 148-149

LOS ANGELES - After a full meal, Manny Pacquiao can tip the scales at around 148 to 149 pounds, according to his bosom buddy, Buboy Fernandez.

Safe and sound.

“He’s at 148 to 149. Just right on it,” said Fernandez in his hotel room at Park Plaza here in the northern side of Hollywood.

Fernandez had just unloaded his stuff from the gym after an aborted training session Friday afternoon.

Pacquiao, the pot-bellied Filipino boxing trainer said, poured it all during his morning run at Griffith Park he called it a day from there.

The eight-division champion, with the permission of his chief trainer, Freddie Roach, skipped the afternoon session at Wild Card Gym, just a couple of blocks away.

“We felt it was wise to just let him rest after that morning run. Besides, he sparred 11 rounds yesterday and will do 12 rounds tomorrow,” said Fernandez.

There’s no reason to worry.

In fact, Fernandez said everybody’s happy where Pacquiao is right now, inside two weeks to the Floyd Mayweather fight in Las Vegas.

“What he showed us earlier could be his peak condition. He ran up the mountains like he never did before,” he said.

Pacquiao covered the steep and elevated eight-kilometer terrain in just over 54 minutes.

“That was the toughest climb here. Mahirap yun. Grabe yung ginawa niya. So, we decided to give him a rest in the afternoon,” Fernandez told scribes.

“He showed that he’s at the peak of his training now,” he added.

Pacquiao will face Mayweather for all the worthy titles in the welterweight division on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Training had gone the way they want it, despite the fact that Pacquiao missed three consecutive sparring sessions last week.

“Baka ma-over (train),” said Fernandez.

Even by skipping those sessions and eating as heavy as he wants, Pacquiao had kept his weight in check.

Paccquiao eats as much when over a hundred people around him are starving themselves in a weight-loss challenge offering $10,000 to the champion.

“Bultu-bulto kung kumain (He eats a lot),” said Fernandez.

“But we’re on it. Right now he’s at 148-149,” he said.

Read more on The Philippine Star.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

What is Pacquiao's birthday gift to Freddie Roach

MANILA, Philippines – Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao gave trainer Freddie Roach an early birthday gift with a strong performance in training camp last Tuesday, one day before the Hall-of-Fame coach celebrated his 54th birthday.

“Birthday gift ko kay Freddi na maganda ang ensayo ko ngayon,” Pacquiao told Eddie Alinea of PhilBoxing after sparring six rounds with Lydell Rhodes.

Roach was full of praise for the former pound-for-pound king, telling Alinea that Pacquiao was “responding well to our program” in training camp.

“I’ve never seen him throw that many combinations since he walked into my gym and asked me to train him more than 10 years ago,” said Roach. “And to think, this is only our second week of sparring.”

“He’ll still improve when we get to Los Angeles, where he will meet three more of my guys to help him,” added Roach.

Pacquiao and his team will leave for Los Angeles on Saturday, and will hold the rest of his training camp at the Wild Card Gym there.

The team is brimming with confidence with still over a month to go before Pacquiao faces off against unbeaten American boxer Timothy Bradley Jr. in their April 12 rematch in Las Vegas.

“Everything that we expect Bradley to bring to the table, we will have an answer,” said Roach.

“We’re preparing him (Pacquiao) to put up an unrelenting attack from the opening bell until his hands are raised in victory,” the trainer added.

Alinea reported that Pacquiao will spar with Rhodes on Thursday and Saturday, and do roadwork on Friday along with 10 to 15 rounds on the mitts to wrap up the GenSan training camp.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pacquiao big part of Roach's Hall of Fame journey

LAS VEGAS - Manny Pacquiao's world title fight against Timothy Bradley on Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) is just one event in a whirlwind weekend for trainer Freddy Roach, who will be inducted into boxing's Hall of Fame on Sunday (Monday, PHL time).

Roach said he wouldn't miss the ceremony in Canastota, New York, calling it a "once in a lifetime deal."

"Part of the reason I'm going in the Hall of Fame is Manny Pacquiao," he added.

The two teamed up in 2001, when little-known Pacquiao needed a place to train in the United States and tried Roach's Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

The two had a connection immediately, Roach recalled.

"It was the first time we met each other," Roach said. "I didn't miss a beat on the mitts. It was like I knew him his whole life. He couldn't even speak English back then."

Pacquiao has since evolved into a global superstar, a world champion in eight weight classes who is a hero -- and congressman -- in his homeland and a money-spinning celebrity in the United States.

Through it all, Roach said, his relationship with Pacquiao has evolved as well, from a father figure in the early days to their current close friendship.

"It started off immediately," Roach said of the friendship. "We had a lot of respect for each other. That's never changed. Our roles have changed."

Now that Pacquiao is older, with a family of his own, he doesn't rely on Roach for advice about his life.

Even when it comes to boxing, Roach said, they now meet on equal terms.

"I don't coach him as much as I used to," Roach said, adding that Pacquiao was an astute student of boxing.

"Sometimes he's my coach at this point. It's 100 percent collaboration."

So it's no surprise that even with the Hall of Fame honor beckoning, Roach will be in Pacquiao's corner on Saturday night.

He sheepishly explained he'd rented a private plane -- cost $26,000 -- to take him and others from Las Vegas to New York soon after the bout.

"I'm not too happy about it," he said.

Roach will be joined on the plane by his mother and other family members, along with ring announcer Michael Buffer, who will also work the Pacquiao fight and also be inducted into the Hall on Sunday.

Roach fought as a lightweight for eight years, building a record of 40-13 before retiring in 1986.

He is being inducted into the Hall for his work as a trainer.

Pacquiao's overall record of 54-3-2 includes a line of 22-1-2 in 25 fights with Roach.

Roach has also brought along young fighters, guiding Virgil Hill to a 31-0 record before they parted ways and training flyweight champion Brian Viloria and the late Johnny Tapia.

One thing Roach said he hadn't quite planned out for the weekend was his induction ceremony speech.

"It's going to be a short speech," he predicted.

Sunday's other honorees are Thomas Hearns, Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, broadcaster Al Bernstein and writer Michael Katz. - AFP

source: gmanetwork.com