Manny buckles down to work in Pines City

BAGUIO CITY—Wait till Manny Pacquiao hits full throttle.

Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach sounded impressed with the way his prized ward breezed through the initial phase of their preparation for Antonio Margarito in Metro Manila last week.

“That’s our best first week ever,” the boxing Hall of Famer told the Inquirer after their first training session here yesterday afternoon.

For Pacquiao, however, there’s a lot more hard work to be done for his World Boxing Council super welterweight title showdown against Margarito on Nov. 13 at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Before leaving for Baguio Sunday afternoon, Pacquiao said he was only “about 50 to 60 percent ready” for the pay-per-view duel that could give him an unprecedented eighth world title in as many divisions.

The pound-for-pound king buckled down to business right on the first day of training camp. He limbered up after doing 30 minutes of roadwork at Burnham Park starting at 7 a.m. 

The Fighter of the Decade then went through his regular grind in the afternoon, doing 11 rounds on the mitts with Roach, with no rest in-between and not even a sip of water.

Witnesses said Pacquiao was so strong and speedy he dislodged Roach’s green mitt thrice.

Pacquiao also did two rounds of abdominal stretching exercises with conditioning expert Alex Ariza and four rounds of shadow boxing at the Cooyesan Hotel Plaza, where he also trained for last year’s bout with Miguel Cotto.

Ariza said there was “no sign yet of any trouble” with the recurring injury in Pacquiao’s left foot.

Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz said Manny was set to play basketball later Monday with a local team, which he said worried him.

“He [Pacquiao] is overdoing it now,” said Koncz. “He is in that zone, and now we are going to have to hold him back.”

Joining Pacquiao at the training camp were former WBC light flyweight champion Rodel Mayol, featherweight Bernabe Concepcion and flyweight Richie Mepranum, who are all lined up to fight in November and December.

On Tuesday, Pacquiao is scheduled to do his first sparring session with Michael Medina, who is a shade taller than Margarito.