MANILA, Philippines – Halos tatlong linggo bago ang kanilang upakan ni American challenger Chris Algieri ay nasa kanyang pamatay na porma na si Filipino world eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao.
Sinabi ni chief trainer Freddie Roach na napaaga ang pagkakalagay sa magandang kondisyon ni Pacquiao (56-5-3, 38 KOs) para sa kanilang banggaan ni Algieri sa Nobyembre 22 sa The Venetian sa Macau, China.
Kaya naman nasa Hong Kong sina Pacquiao at Roach kasama sina promoter Bob Arum at Canadian Adviser Michael Koncz para magrelaks at palakasin na rin ang promosyon ng kanilang laban ni Algieri.
“Manny Pacquiao is in great shape. Our strength coach (Justin Fortune) came in 10 days before me in General Santos (City),” wika ni Roach. “He started working him and by the time I worked with him, we were sparring 12 rounds in the mitts. Pacquiao wasn’t even breathing heavy. His condition is terrific right now.”
Para makuha ang istilo ng 5-foot-10 na si Algieri (20-0-0, 8 KOs) ay kinuha ni Roach bilang sparring partners ng 5’6 na si Pacquiao sina 5’11 Viktor Postol (26-0-0, 11 KOs), 5’9 Mike Jones (26-2-0, 19 KOs) at 5’10 Stan ‘The Man’ Martyniouk (13-2-0, 2 KOs).
“We still have three hard weeks of work in front of us. With three good sparring partners, it’s working out well. I have one more sparring partner coming over as a reserve, but I will use him as well,” ani Roach.
Nabasag ni Pacquiao ang ilong ni Postol tatlong araw na ang nakararaan sa isa nilang sparring session.
“Manny broke Pos-tol’s nose three days ago. But Postol’s okay. I train him. He’s a fighter, he’s a tough kid and he’s not going home,” sabi ni Roach sa Ukranian light welterweight contender.
Kamakalawa ay nagdaos sina Pacquiao at Roach ng light training session sa harap ng mga boxing fans sa EPIC MMA Club sa Central Hong Kong.
“We will box nine rounds on Wednesday, nine rounds on Thursday and 10 rounds on Saturday, so we are working our way to a peak level and when we hit that peak, we will decide tapering off a bit,” wika ng five-time Trainer of the Year awardee.