Pacquiao training in high gear

The training of Manny Pacquiao is proceeding faster than planned, and members of his team are scrambling to keep pace.

“He will get into condition in no time,”  assistant trainer Nonoy Neri told the Inquirer in Filipino yesterday. “The excess weight is quickly gone.”

With Buboy Fernandez and Neri supervising his training regimen, Pacquiao officially started his preparation for Brandon Rios at the Pacman Wild Card Gym in General Santos City on Monday.

Bent on regaining the luster of his ring career tarnished by the sixth-round knockout he suffered against Juan Manuel Marquez last December, Pacquiao wants to whip himself into shape quickly though the Rios fight is set Nov. 24 yet in Macau.

“You know Manny, once he gets the hang of it (training), he doesn’t want to stop,” said Neri, who has to substitute for a fagged-out Fernandez in doing the mitts with Pacquiao on Tuesday.

Team Pacquiao took a break on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow (Friday) we’ll do some sprinting,” said Neri, who is also in charge of Pacquiao’s food intake and physical well-being while the Sarangani representative is mulling whether or not to hire a replacement for conditioning expert Alex Ariza.

Ariza transferred to the Rios camp after being fired by chief trainer Freddie Roach, who is joining Pacquiao on Oct. 7.

According to Neri, he is thoroughly familiar with the old system (Pacquiao’s conditioning exercises) and is implementing it with the concurrence of Pacquiao and his business manager, Michael Koncz.