Pacquiao energized after camp
Manny Pacquiao conquers highest peak in Maasim, Sarangani province. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/Winchell Campos
A day before closing his training camp and flying to Malaysia, Manny Pacquiao declared that he’s happy with how preparations for his fight against Lucas Matthysse transpired.
Childhood buddy Buboy Fernandez, who took over Freddie Roach as head trainer for the July 15 fight at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, reported that the energy is back in Team Pacquiao ahead of the WBA welterweight championship duel.
“He (Pacquiao) said that he was happy with the training,” Fernandez told philboxing.com in Filipino. “Most of us are Filipinos aside from Justin (Fortune, conditioning coach), the energy is back within the team.”
But Pacquiao is not only expected to win his unprecedented 11th world title and the 60th fight in his storied 23-year career.
What remains to be seen is how much of that energy Pacquiao has been regained since he will be coming into this fight after a year’s inactivity.
Pacquiao’s last fight was on July 2 last year when he lost in upset fashion to Australian Jeff Horn in Brisbane.
With a raging bull of an opponent in the Argentine champ, Pacquiao still aims to score his first knockout win in almost nine years.
The senator’s last KO win came on Nov. 14, 2009 when he pummeled Miguel Cotto to earn a 12th-round technical KO triumph.
That masterpiece of a performance, held at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, capped Pacquiao’s string of fantastic stoppages of an A-list of opponents that included Brit Ricky Hatton (KO, second round), Oscar Dela Hoya (retired, eighth round) and David Diaz (TKO, ninth round).
If Pacquiao is adamant in delaying Father Time, fans will expect no less than another KO win against the offensive-minded Matthysse.
