Despite a long drive down from Baguio City under cover of midnight darkness, Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao lightened up the eyes of those who watched his workout at the Gerry Penalosa gym at the Market Mall in Mandaluyong, Monday with what former two-time world champion Gerry Penalosa described as an awesome performance.
Pacquiao worked twelve rounds on the mitts, ripping combinations that made the forearm of trainer Freddie Roach sore while occasionally cracking him with shots to the body pad. Pacquiao wanted to continue but Roach said he couldn’t stand the pounding any longer and called it quits.
As though that was not enough conditioning expert Alex Ariza put Pacquiao through a routine of plyometric and isometric routines that were brutal but didn’t faze the world’s pound-for-pound king.
Pacquiao didn’t only punch with devastating power, he moved swiftly and worked at four-punch combinations before slipping under and out to make sure that WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto won’t catch him in their “Fire Power” showdown at the MGM Grand on November 14.
After the workout Roach said he told Pacquiao “cash in but don’t wait for the change Manny. Get the hell out of there” which is the basic strategy for the Cotto fight. Roach noted that Pacquiao was not only moving well “his defense has improved quite a bit with his head movement.”
The three-time “Trainer of the Year’ award winner remembered that Oscar De La Hoya caught Pacquiao on the ropes in their December 2008 fight one time but added “in this fight you are not going to get caught there ever. He smiled, shook my hand and said ‘Freddie, it won’t happen.”
Pacquiao kept slipping punches easily, stayed off the ropes and took the action to the center of the ring as Roach put him through his paces in a rigorous workout that showed Pacquiao, chasing his seventh world title, was in great shape.
Roach said Pacquiao had power in both his left and right hands and with his knowledge of the game-plan for the fight, he believes Pacquiao can knock Cotto out in one round which is a view shared by conditioning guru Ariza who winced when Pacquiao cracked the mitts of Roach with a deadly combination and said “he has unbelievable power.”
Roach expressed his concern over what Cotto may do if he gets hurt by Pacquiao early in the fight. He recalled that “when he gets frustrated he (Cotto) gets dirty, he hits low, he head-butts. He knows all the tricks.” Roach noted that Cotto got hit by Zab Judah and was hurt, he hit him a low blow and got a five minute rest” which Cotto used so he could recover.
The celebrated trainer said he inform the Nevada State Athletic Commission that “when he (Cotto) gets hurt he comes back with a low blow and its deliberate. I want a disqualification right away. No warnings because the warnings should be in the dressing room if I get my way.”
Pacquiao who decided to wind up h is training camp and return to Manila as reported by BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports said he didn’t want to take the risk of getting stranded in Baguio because of an incoming typhoon.A relaxed and smiling Pacquiao said he feels good and “if I am stronger, its all a gift from God plus my own discipline and hard training.” At the same time he attributed his development to the excellent combination between him and Roach and attributed his apparent happiness to the fact that “ I feel happy when I am in the gym training and feel down when I am not working out and in top condition.”
Source: /bleacherreport.com
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