The Filipino knockout artist, who has been training on-and-off for the past two weeks, will leave for Los Angeles on Thursday for the hard grind toward his Nov. 18 showdown with Erik Morales.
Pacquiao will leave for LA accompanied by Cebu-based associate Wakee Salud, lawyer Franklin Gacal and Filipino trainers Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri.
On Sept. 16, Pacquiao will be at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to watch Marco Antonio Barrera defend his World Boxing Council super-featherweight crown against Rocky Juarez.
Pacquiao will begin training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood on Sept. 18, a Monday. The following day, he’ll be at the posh Beverly Hills Hotel for a press conference also to be attended by Morales.
Training at the Wild Card Gym owned by Freddie Roach will be non-stop leading to the fight.
Salud said it was Bob Arum of Top Rank who informed them of the Sept. 19 press conference. Arum personally called Salud from Macau where the topnotch promoter graced the opening of the newest Wynn Hotel.
Once again, Pacquiao will have to leave his family, wife Jinkee and sons Emmanuel and Michael, behind.
Jinkee is scheduled to give birth to a baby girl late October.
Pacquiao has been working out at a local gym in Gen. Santos City on a staggered basis, as he had to shuttle to and from Manila for some important business commitments.
More than a week ago, he flew to Guam to endorse the candidacy of a Fil-American who ran for the post of governor. He stayed there for two days before flying back to his hometown.
According to Fernandez, Pacquiao worked out at least two hours a day just to stay in shape. There were days that Pacquiao even played basketball in the afternoon.
Pacquiao will be in Manila today to grace the "Super Pacman" 5-Stag Derby at the Makati Coliseum. The derby, which starts at 2 p.m., should be over by midnight.
Pacquiao, who defeated Oscar Larios last July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum, doesn’t see any problem with his weight, as compared to Morales who needed eight weeks just to get in shape.
Morales hasn’t fought since being knocked out by Pacquiao in their rematch at the Thomas and Mack Center last January, and has ballooned to more than 150 lbs.
Morales reportedly lost seven kilos in only six weeks at the state-of-the-art Velocity Training Center in LA, just enough to make him feel more comfortable before he begins his high-altitude training in Mexico by next week.