Blood, sweat and tears in GenSan

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Manny Pacquiao skipped his early-morning run yesterday for a tougher afternoon grind in the gym as he entered his third week of training for his April 14 fight against Mexico’s Jorge Solis.

Pacquiao sparred for eight rounds against welterweight Arnel Tinampay who came in fresh from Manila as a welcome substitute to lightweights Jesar Ancahas and Aaron Mergalejo.

Pacquiao looked trim and sharp in sparring. He weighed 137 lbs yesterday and should have no problem making the 130 lb limit for the coming fight set at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Pacquiao rested the entire morning in his mansion, had brunch, received some guests and spent time with his kids, and on the piano, belting out a few Beatles songs before heading for the gym at 2 p.m.

Then it was work and no play.

"Walang patid ang ensayo ko dito. Araw-araw puwera Linggo (There’s no lull in training here. It’s everyday except Sunday)," said Pacquiao as he wrapped up his two-round regimen before some curious onlookers.

"Ang parehong training ko sa US, times two dito dahil sa init (What I do in the US is doubled here because of the heat)," added the 28-year-old boxer.

Instead of the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, Pacquiao has opted to spend the first half of his training here, sweating it out at the Rey Golingan-owned gym as hot as a microwave oven during daytime

Pacquiao’s departure for Los Angeles was pushed back once more. From the last week of February, to March 6 and 15, it’s now set for March 17.

Pacquiao said that instead of a Thursday, he would rather come in on a Saturday so he can rest until Sunday and plunge into training at Wild Card on Monday.

"We brought him (Tinampay) in the hope that he can push Manny around during sparring," said Canadian Mike Koncz, who’s been lately serving as Pacquiao’s ring adviser.

"We needed a new sparring partner for Manny because the two others are slowly giving up. They are both good but we feel that they can’t take it anymore," said trainer Buboy Fernandez.

"What’s happening is that Manny is holding back his punches during sparring. But we’re still keeping these two boxers for the coming days," added Nonoy Neri, another Pacquiao trainer.

Pacquiao was given time to rest yesterday morning since he was set to spar for eight rounds in the afternoon. In his previous sparring sessions, he went three, three, four, six and seven for a total of 31rounds

"There are odd days that he’d skip his morning runs but there was never a day that he stayed out of the gym. The training is doing great though I’d give him a six out of 10. He’s got four weeks to get there," added Koncz.