“NOW IT’S time to get focused. We’re in Los Angeles.”
Celebrated American trainer Freddie Roach declared this shortly after pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and his team arrived to a warm welcome from scores of Filipino fans at the Los Angeles airport Saturday evening (Sunday in Manila).
While Roach repeated his prediction that Pacquiao’s Nov. 13 showdown with Mexican Antonio Margarito “will not go past eight rounds,” he said the next two weeks starting Monday would be the most critical part of the Filipino superstar’s preparation.
Three new sparring partners will test Pacquiao, including undefeated light middleweights Julio Cezar Chavez Jr. and Vanes Martirosyan, who has said he would try to score a knockdown and earn a $1,000 (P43,400) bonus from Roach.
Sparring will begin on Tuesday behind closed doors, with Roach shutting down the Wild Card Gym from 12 noon to 5 p.m. every day to prevent people who are not part of Team Pacquiao from disrupting training.
Conditioning expert Alex Ariza said he would check Pacquiao’s weight after they drove to his plush Palazzo apartment to “evaluate where we started, where we are at, where we were for the last two fights (against Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey) and go over those.”
Roach said Pacquiao weighed 146 pounds but Ariza indicated he would like to see Pacquiao get up to 151 lb or 152 lb.
“If he can stay right there and have great sparring I’d like to keep him there,” said the four-time Hall of Fame trainer.
Team Pacquiao chief of staff Joe Ramos told the Inquirer that some Pacquiao fans had waited for hours to get a glimpse of their hero while others hoped to pose for pictures.
But Ramos said World Boxing Association junior welterweight champion Amir Khan, who trained and sparred with Pacquiao in Baguio City, was detained at the airport for almost 45 minutes.
There was no reason given for the delay in clearing British star. Ronnie Nathanielsz
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