MACAU—Team Pacquiao arrived here in style Monday night.
With an entourage approximating those of visiting heads of states, Manny Pacquiao and his party of about 300 flew in on board two AirAsia A320s that touched down just 10 minutes apart from General Santos City.
Pacquiao and the majority of his companions will stay at the 2,905-room The Venetian Macao until the day after his WBO welterweight title defense against light welter champ Chris Algieri on Nov. 23 at The Venetian’s Cotai Arena.
Before proceeding to this gambling and tourism haven, Pacquiao did light workout and sparring at his Pacman Wild Card Gym Monday afternoon to officially close his training camp in GenSan.
Chief trainer Freddie Roach had labeled the seven-week camp earlier as “perfect” for the Algieri fight.
Roach said there were no distractions and Pacquiao was happy with the setup of training close to his family and constituents as Sarangani’s lone representative.
“This is one of the best camps we’ve held,” said Roach, who earlier predicted a quick knockout win for Pacquiao, who has not stopped a foe in the last five years
Roach cited the great shape of Pacquiao which he attributed to the physical conditioning supervised by assistant trainers Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
At the same time, Roach gave credit to sparring partners Mike Jones, Viktor Postol, Stan Martyniouk, Jose Ramirez, all tall and rangy fighters like Algieri.
During the spirited sparring sessions, Pacquiao knocked down Martyniouk twice and staggered the 6-foot Jones.
Light training will continue Tuesday with Pacquiao loosening up at the gym until Friday.
The official weigh-in will be on Saturday morning, with Pacquiao expected to come in at either 142 or 143 pounds.
Algieri is tipped to check in at the maximum 144 lb catch weight limit.
On fight day of the HBO pay-per-view bout, dubbed Clash in Cotai II: Hungry for Glory, Pacquiao is projected to be at 147 or 148 lb and Algieri over 150.
Algieri, with his small entourage, arrived here Friday with little fanfare.