Pacquiao getting good workout from tireless sparring partners

Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partners are playing their roles so well that the coaching staff see no need to bring in new ones for the duration of training camp.

This developed after Briton Liam Vaughan, Ghanaian Fredrick Lawson and Filipino Dan Nazareno Jr. again made Pacquiao sweat it out in their sparring sessions yesterday afternoon at Pacman’s Wild Card Gym in General Santos City.

“They really poured it on against Manny,” assistant trainer Nonoy Neri told the Inquirer in Filipino. “They gamely traded shots and pressed on the attack.”

The more than 50 onlookers gave Pacquiao and his spar mates a round of applause after the ring session supervised by American trainer Freddie Roach with help from Buboy Fernandez and Neri.

“They (sparring partners) made Manny perspire and this is what Freddie wants (to develop Manny’s stamina,” Neri added. “So far, Freddie has no intention of bringing in new ones.”

According to Neri,  among the three it was Vaughan, a light middleweight from Liverpool,  who moves a lot like Rios.

“For three rounds, he (Vaughan) brought the fight to Manny and he’s around 165 to 170 pounds.”

Nazareno also imitated Rios’ attacking style for two rounds, while the unbeaten Lawson, getting familiar with Pacquiao’s style, likewise spent two rounds with the Fighter of the Decade who is preparing for his welterweight showdown with Brandon Rios on Nov. 24 in Macau. Roy Luarca