Trainer Freddie Roach reportedly cried he would rather have the Manny Pacquiao fight on July 2 postponed if it were to be held the following day. This was on Tuesday, after Pacquiao sparred five tentative rounds against two inferior partners at Elorde Gym in Pasay City.
Roach supposedly howled that Pacquiao was far behind in training.
Naturally, there was alarm all over, with the news spreading wide in Australia, where Pacquiao defends his WBO welterweight crown against hometown hero Jeff Horn (16-0-1) on July 2.
Pardon this, but Pacquiao himself had seemed the least bothered by the allegations.
This reporter requested veteran scribe Eddie Alinea to inquire with Team Pacquiao if there was something seriously wrong with Pacquiao or his training regimen.
Alinea said he was able to talk to Roach, who said “Manny was somewhat stiff in sparring because he had started with the grueling plyometrics regimen.”
One report on the Pacquiao sparring on Tuesday was illustrated by a photo of Pacquiao, in red shirt, pausing to grimace and complain about something visibly bothersome in his shoulder area.
It was also reported that Pacquiao had been hit silly by punches from his unranked local sparmates.
To repeat, these reports must’ve sounded like music to the ears of Horn’s handlers, including the fight promoters in Australia, where the unbeaten Horn was still an awful 9-1 underdog the last time odds were taken.
Anyway, there was a report by the able boxing expert Nick Giongco that Roach plans to bring in a “Horn clone” to beef up the shallow roster of Pacquiao sparmates.
“I would like to bring in George Kambosos because he reminds me of Horn,” Giongco quoted Roach as saying.
Kambosos, 12-0, is rated ninth by the WBA and is a regular at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
Anyway, on Wednesday, a day after reports about Pacquiao’s sluggish stand in training came up, Roach worked the mitts with Pacquiao at Elorde Gym near Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Inquirer’s Roy Luarca reported that Roach left the ring satisfied as Pacquiao proceeded exuberantly to do a total of 24 rounds, including hitting the heavy bag, the speed ball, and skipping ropes.
Roach, glad, had suggested they might have to train in Australia for a total of two weeks, instead of only one.
Roach was, however, mystified at where the media got the idea that Pacquiao was behind in training—“Where the hell did they get that?”