HOLLYWOOD—Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant made use of his lockout-fueled free time Thursday by visiting the Wild Card Gym to watch Manny Pacquiao prepare for his third bout against Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12 in Las Vegas.
That preparation included a reaffirmation of the game plan: Hurt Marquez early and never let up. Finish him off.
Bryant stayed for close to an hour, posing for a few photos with Pacquiao and his team members and then leaving after the Filipino ring icon had completed seven rounds of sparring with three different fighters.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant (left) watches intently Thursday at the Wild Card Gym as Manny Pacquiao trains for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12 in Las Vegas. Photo by Francis T.J. Ochoa
Bryant’s visit, Roach said, was prearranged by the basketball superstar’s camp.
“He’s a nice guy,” Roach said. “It’s nice that Kobe dropped by. We talked a little bit. I enjoyed meeting him.”
“He didn’t get a chance to talk to Manny that much because the training was about to start when he arrived,” added Roach.
Pacquiao also did six rounds of mitts a day after taking a rare day off from working out Wednesday.
“In my 10 or 11 years with Manny, this was just the second time that he took the day off,” Roach said. “He’s been working very hard for this fight. I felt the rest was needed.”
Pacquiao is taking his fight against his Mexican nemesis personally, and Roach said this has been the hardest he’s seen Manny at in camp.
“I know I say this a lot but we’re having the best camp ever,” said Roach. “This is the most motivated I’ve ever seen him.”
“The entire camp, he’s had an extra push, extra motivation,” said the hall-of-fame trainer. “He’s really pissed at this guy.”
Even for someone who has seen Pacquiao always ask for more during training, Roach said there’s a palpable edge in the Pacman’s training grit, prompting him to predict that the fight won’t last the distance. Roach said Pacquiao will be different from the guy who virtually escorted his last two foes to the final round.
“We talked about that and I said Manny, if you get a jump on this guy in the first round, you can knock him out in one round,” Roach said. “And he said ‘you know Marquez is a smart guy and he might walk us into something,'”
“Let’s be smarter and we’ll take him out when he’s ready to go,” Roach quoted Pacquiao as saying.
“And I told him, ‘we’ll go that way but if you hurt him in the first round, don’t let up on him all right?'” Roach said.
“And he smiled at me and said ‘we won’t have to this time,'” Roach said. “It won’t be like his last two fights where he’s going to take it easy on (his opponent).
“I think he’ll finish this one (off).”
(NOTES: Manny Pacquiao’s Ferrari got towed for repairs after it failed to start when the boxer was about to drive it off to the Jimmy Kimmel show. The car’s battery apparently conked out after one of its lights was left open as he trained at the Wild Card Gym.)