Pacquiao starts sparring with heavier foe

MANNY Pacquiao sparred yesterday with local middleweight Marlon Alta (12-3, 9 KOs) in the absence of Korean sparmate Kim Min-wook at his Wild Card Gym in General Santos City. The three rounds of practice was enough to convince trainers Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri that Pacquiao hasn’t lost a step. “He (Pacquiao) was fast and moved very well,” Neri told the Inquirer yesterday. “Nothing has changed.” Pacquiao will fight Brandon Rios on Nov. 24 at The Venetian Macao. Roy Luarca