HOLLYWOOD—Bob Arum went to Wild Card Gym Friday to find out how Manny Pacquiao was doing in training.
The 83-year-old Hall of Fame promoter was bracing for the worst, but was astounded by what he saw instead.
Pacquiao, who, according to some unconfirmed reports was being bothered by occasional cramps attack, was like a whirlwind in training.
“Super fast,” Arum told ABS-CBN sportscaster Dyan Castillejo. “ The fastest I’ve seen him, ever.”
Though he’d predicted that his prized ward would hand Floyd Mayweather Jr. his first loss after 47 victories on May 2 in Las Vegas, Arum said he’s now convinced it would be by way of knockout.
Pacquiao’s display of blazing hand and foot speed, according to Arum, will be key factors in the megabuck bout projected to gross between $300M to $400M.
Assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez said almost the same thing.
“For me, he’s now at 100 percent,” Fernandez told the Inquirer in Filipino before he boarded his service Hummer vehicle.
“His moves, his speed, stamina are already there. I’d say his form is better than when he fought [and beat] Oscar De La Hoya.”
Then a huge underdog, Pacquiao thoroughly dominated De La Hoya, then the poster boy of boxing, making the American-Mexican legend quit on his stool after eight lopsided rounds on Dec. 6, 2008.
Though tickets have yet to be released, the 16,800-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena is expected to be full to the brim, despite astronomical ticket prices.
General admission tickets, worth $1,500, is now being peddled as high as $6,000 in the re-sale market, with prime seat tickets being dangled for over $80,000.
Ticket demands have been so stiff that even some fighters included in the Fight of the Century undercards will have to buy their own, a phenomenon Arum said he hasn’t seen in his nearly half a century in boxing.
For more updates on Pacquiao-Mayweather “Fight of the Century,” visit The Pacquiao Files.