Worn-out Pacquiao runs, skips rest of training

Hollywood—Manny Pacquiao settled for a morning run and skipped the rest of his training Monday afternoon due to fatigue and jetlag, his adviser told journalists here.

Pacquiao arrived Saturday evening and still hasn’t adjusted to the time. He did his first uphill run in six months at 6 a.m. but was still asleep when adviser Mike Koncz fetched him for his 2 p.m. workout at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym.

“It hits everybody at different times,” said Koncz about the Senator’s jetlag. Koncz later called Roach and the two agreed to cancel the day’s training session.

Roach believes Pacquiao is already in shape to tangle with Jessie Vargas for the World Boxing Organization welterweight crown on Nov. 5 in Las Vegas.

Koncz believes the rest will do Pacquiao a lot of good.

“Sometimes mental fatigue is worse than physical fatigue,” said Koncz as he cited Pacquiao’s daily grind in Manila of waking up early to jog, attending Senate sessions, and then reporting for night training.

Now, Pacquiao can focus entirely on his training.

Pacquiao started the day full of energy and opted to run the Griffith Park ascent rather than the flat Pan Pacific Park.

Rain started to fall when he was doing his exercise routines, forcing Team Pacquiao members to scramble to get towels and umbrellas to shield Pacquiao, who pushed through under the supervision of conditioning coach Justine Fortune and assistant trainers Buboy Fernandez, Nonoy Neri and Haplas Fernandez.

“Rain or shine,” Pacquiao quipped.