Pacquiao ready to chase rival

MANNY Pacquiao tackles a jumping exercise as Justin Fortune (left) and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez look on. ROY LUARCA

GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Chris Algieri can run, but Manny Pacquiao will chase him down.

Trainer Freddie Roach said yesterday that he doesn’t expect Algieri to engage Pacquiao in a slugfest when they tangle for the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown on Nov. 23 in Macau.

“He’ll run, that’s for sure,” Roach told sportswriters at Pacman Wild Card Gym here.

With this in mind, Roach said he has devised a fight plan that will make it easier for Pacquiao to trap Algieri in a corner and then catch the unbeaten challenger with all the bombs at his disposal.

If Algieri manages to dance around the ring or hover near the center, Roach said Pacquiao won’t ease the pressure, throwing jabs interspersed with hooks.

Roach did 12 rounds of mitts work with Pacquiao in the three-hour afternoon training session and came out convinced that he need not worry about the outcome of the 12-round pay-per-view bout at The Venetian Macao.

In their first training session together last Thursday, Pacquiao breezed through 12 rounds with the mitts, surprising Roach.

Pacquiao’s power was evident in his workout, his hard shots sending the six-time Trainer of the Year leaning on the ropes.

His body shots produced booming sounds as they landed on Roach’s protective armor, even though they were thrown with great restraint.

Having played two straight games Sunday night with his MP Hotel team that will compete in the PBA D-League, Pacquiao skipped his usual early morning run.

Happy with the go-signal given him by Roach to play with the KIA Sorentos in the PBA Philippine Cup inaugurals on Oct. 19, Pacquiao put up a show against Team Tin 24, a selection from Davao at the gymnasium in the compound of his mansion here.

In the first game, MP Hotel handily won, 102-74, with Pacquiao contributing 11 points, including a triple, and eight assists.

In the second game, Pacquiao canned four charities in the last 31 seconds as MP Hotel thwarted Team Tin 24, 104-99.

Pacquiao said he’ll play briefly in the first two quarters of the Kia-Blackwater Elite game as he knows the danger the game poses.