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Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Pacman in 6
By Frank C. Calapre Sun.Star Correspondent
MANILA – Renowned American trainer Freddie Roach yesterday predicted Manny Pacquiao will stop Mexican Oscar Larios in the sixth round of their scheduled 12-round “Mano a Mano” on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Roach, Ring Magazine’s Trainer of the Year, said the 25-year-old native of Gen. Santos City is in great shape and is ready to rumble with the former World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight titlist Larios, who will arrive in the Philippines on June 25 from Japan, where he is currently training for the much awaited fight.
“Manny is in great shape already and I think Oscar Larios will last only for six rounds against Manny Pacquiao,” said Roach during Pacquiao’s first workout at the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (Abap) gym inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate, Manila.
With only 11 days before the fight, the 14-member Team Pacquiao arrived yesterday morning on board Philippine Airlines flight 113 from Los Angeles, California with a brief stopover in Guam.
Accompanying Pacquiao in the trip were Roach, manager Shelly Finkel, corner man Buboy Fernandez, Los Angeles-based Joe Ramos, security in-charge Rob Peter, Russian sparmate Rustam Nugaov and former WBC flyweight champion Gerry Peñalosa.
Pacquiao said he will resume his training at the Abap gym because it is near the Manila Hotel, where the entire team is billeted until the fight, his first since stopping Erik Morales in Las Vegas, Nevada in January.
Prize money
“It is not really my character to predict how long the fight will last. But what I can tell now is I will do my best so that the entire country will enjoy and will be happy,” said Pacquiao.
Larios will receive $450,000, while Pacquiao is reported to receive $1 million for the fight at the Big Dome, where tickets are pegged at P30,000 (patron), P20,000 (lower box), P7,500 (upper box-A) and P2,500 (upper box-B).
Pacquiao and Larios will appear before the media on June 28 at the Araneta Colisem.
Even with only two hours rest during the 16-hour flight, Pacquiao did a light workout at the Abap gym for 90 minutes and will spar with featherweight Rustam Nugaov on Friday and Monday to complete the planned more than 100 hours of sparring preparations for the fight.
“Before we left Manny did 10 hours of sparring but the day before he sparred for 12 hours, while in some other days were at six rounds,” said Roach, who also said that the Abap gym will be closed to the public starting today to avoid distraction.
Police escort
Roach said that it will still take three days before Pacquiao could resume the normal training after the long flight from the US, where he underwent rigid training for more than a month.
Pacquiao will jog today at the Luneta with a heavy security composed of 10 policemen, one mobile patrol and two motorcycle police escorts, which Manila Mayor Lito Atienza provided until the fight day.
Roach said another adjustment that they have to make is the adaptation to the fight scheduled, which is at 11 a.m. Pacquiao is used to fighting at night.
“It’s something that we have to adjust because Manny used to fight during night-time condition,” he said.
Pacquiao said the liked the hot-oven temperature in the Abap gym because that is what is needed to sweat just enough in his effort not to go beyond the weight limit of 130 pounds. (AP)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 21, 2006 issue)
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