Manny insists: I’m training hard for fight

POUND-FOR-POUND king Manny Pacquiao isn’t fooling around and is actually training hard for his WBC super welterweight title fight against Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13. 

“I’m fine. So far, so good,” Pacquiao said yesterday, after a workout supervised by strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza at the Rizal Memorial track and field stadium.

Adding he has not neglected his training, Pacquiao pointed out that he was “always training,” and that his participation in the Run for the Pasig River last Sunday was actually part of his regimen.

“Sunday was actually supposed to be a rest day, but I ran and jogged, which is good for me,” said Pacquiao.
He said that driving down from Baguio to Manila and back on two successive weekends wasn’t physically taxing. “It doesn’t hurt because I sleep in the car,” he said.

Pacquiao, who worked out along with WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan yesterday, said the conditioning session with Ariza was “getting harder.”

But Ariza said the hard work is yet to come.

“This was just the speed work, getting the form down and getting used to doing the old drills again,” he said.
Pacquiao said he is committed to “the last two weeks of hard training,” and welcomed the chance to work out along with Khan.

“He is fast and he jogs fast and trains fast and that’s good,” said the Filipino superstar.

Khan said the workout was “tough, it was long but it’s going to help us in the fight.”

Khan faces WBA interim champion Marcos Maidana on Dec. 9 in the United States.

“Bai” Elorde, grandson of the late world junior lightweight champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, who will see action in the Pacquiao-Margarito undercard, also joined Pacquiao and Khan in training yesterday.

Ariza ruled out any sparring between Pacquiao and Khan, pointing out that “they are fighting two different guys with different styles.”