Pacquiao was to leave LA Sunday evening and his plane should land in Manila at around 5 a.m. tomorrow. His trainers Freddie Roach and Buboy Fernandez, manager Shelly Finkel, lawyer Nick Khan and adviser Joe Ramos will join the trip.
Pacquiao will climb the ring on July 2 against former world champion Oscar Larios of Mexico. The fight, set at 12 rounds and 130 lbs at the Araneta Coliseum, will serve as a tuneup for Pacquiao’s third battle with Erik Morales in November.
Pacquiao started training at the Wild Card on May 18. He came in at close to 140 lbs but has come very near his top form even before Roach ordered him to break camp after a 12-round sparring session Saturday.
Roach described the LA camp as "satisfactory with most goals and objectives safely tacked in," adding that once they get to Manila, "all we need to do is fine tune the game plans" crafted to counter Larios’ style.
"The format of Manny’s training is geared for him to go over 12 rounds with Larios. If we get a knock-out before that, that is a blessing we will gladly accept," said Roach.
Pacquiao plans to rest just a few hours upon arrival then should be back in the gym in the afternoon, either at the Wild Card Gym in Parañaque which is just a few blocks away from his house, or at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex boxing gym.
While training in LA, Pacquiao had to deal a million-dollar court case filed by Finkel against Pacquiao’s Filipino lawyer Franklin Gacal and adviser Rex "Wakee" Salud.
The case stemmed from Gacal’s and Salud’s alleged violation of contractual obligations regarding Pacquiao’s decision to co-promote his coming fight with Larios without consent from Finkel, Khan and Keith Davidson, another lawyer.
But everything’s water under the bridge now since Finkel has already dropped the case.