FREDDIE Roach walked into the Elorde Boxing Gym at Five E-com Center near MOA Tuesday night still feeling sluggish and drowsy from the 14-hour morning flight from Los Angeles.
The bespectacled trainer’s eyes, however, lit up when he saw Manny Pacquiao spar with United States Olympian Jose Ramirez for four rounds and Filipino lightweight Leonardo Doronio for two rounds.
It was when Roach did the mitts with Pacquiao, however, that the five-time trainer of the year flashed a grin and got pumped up.
Roach has trained Pacquiao for over a decade but had rarely seen the senator put on a combination of speed, timing and power with still over five weeks left before a fight.
“He’s very inspired and aggressive. But what really surprised me was his punching power. I can feel it,” Roach told sportswriters who watched Pacquiao’s first training session for his Nov. 5 battle with Jessie Vargas under Roach’s supervision.
Roach even took a step backward whenever Pacquiao hit his palm hard.
The unbeaten Ramirez (18-0), who arrived with Roach, gamely sparred with Pacquiao to shake off jet lag.
He had previously helped Pacquiao train for Chris Algieri in 2014, so Ramirez knows the dance.
Still, Ramirez was awed by Pacquiao’s combinations.
“It’s very difficult when he puts his punches together. He was more effective when he throws those 1-2, 3-4 combinations. They have snap and each one hurts,” said Ramirez.