Pacquiao flies to LA

Manny Pacquiao is leaving tonight for Los Angeles where he will undergo at least six weeks of non-stop training for his June 28 title fight with David Diaz.

Pacquiao was originally scheduled to fly to LA last Saturday but due to previous personal commitments had to push his departure to tonight, 47 days before their WBC lightweight clash in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, according to his secretary Bren Evangelio, is booked for a Philippine Airlnes flight at 10  p.m. Joining him are his Pinoy trainers Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri.

They will land in LA Monday evening. The following day Pacquiao is scheduled to attend a noontime press conference with Diaz at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in LA.

Depending on his condition, Pacquiao may opt to visit the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood in the afternoon, and meet chief trainer Freddie Roach to draw up their battle plan.

At worst, Pacquiao will start training at the popular sweatshop on Wednesday. That gives him a little over six weeks to train daily in the hope of getting in tip-top shape days before the fight.

The past few days, Pacquiao has also played DVD copies of Diaz fights a couple of times. He liked what he saw.

“I know from watching the DVD copies of his previous fights that he never gives up and never lets up even if he is behind or ahead in the scorecards,” he said.

“I know he’s bigger than me when it comes to build but I’m doing everything trying to adjust to my new fighting weight. He’s not that tall,” said Pacquiao.

“He’s the type of boxer who always stays in front of you and never backs down.”

When in LA, Pacquiao runs at around 5 a.m. , and goes to the gym for a two-hour session at around  2 p.m. On Sundays, he skips gym work but runs in the morning.

Pacquiao should have trained in LA for eight weeks, as he did for the Juan Manuel Marquez fight last March.

But he said six to seven weeks under Roach would be perfectly fine.

Besides, Pacquiao has stayed in shape since his last fight, running in the morning or playing basketball in the afternoon after he comes out of school in Gen. Santos City.

While in Gen. Santos City, Pacquiao has also stayed close to his family. When he leaves tonight, he’ll be away from his family for nearly two months.

He has done gym work for the past week, too. Three times he’d visited the Wild Card Gym in Parañaque to train, and at times in an oven-hot, local gym in his hometown province.