‘Hungry’ Pacquiao hits gym early

Photo by AP

MANILA, Philippines—Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao says his “hunger and interest in boxing remain” and that is one of the reasons he started training as early as Monday for his showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 12.

Pacquiao had a fairly light, enjoyable workout at the Planet Jupiter Gym in Makati on Tuesday evening.

“Boxing gave me life from the time I was a kid,” he told the Inquirer. “This is my job. I need to work well and train hard. I am not tired of boxing.”

Pacquiao went five rounds on the punch-mitts, worked on the two-ball and the speed ball, skipped rope and did his usual abdominal exercises.

He also found time to put on the punch mitts for a couple of rounds with popular ABC 5 radio-TV personality Angelicopter.

Explaining why he started training early for the Marquez trilogy, Pacquiao said “its better to warm up early. This is the start of my training which I actually started on Monday and will continue.”

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, speaking to the Inquirer from Los Angeles hours before boarding a Philippine Airlines flight to Manila with Marquez, his trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, Top Rank president Todd Dubuoef and a Mexican TV crew that’s following Marquez, said he was pleased that Pacquiao was taking the fight seriously because “this guy is very, very tough for a fighter like Manny who comes right to him. He is a great, great counter-puncher.”