Pacquiao sends bigger sparring mate packing

Aaron Robinson, a 5-foot-10 light-middleweight, was given his pink slip after only a few rounds of sparring with Manny Pacquiao yesterday at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

“This is his last day. This is his first and last day,” Pacquaio’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said after the sparring session that lasted four rounds and was marked by a lot of grappling.

“They call him ‘The Energizer’ but after three rounds he wanted to quit. He held on and wrestled a lot. I felt he’s not seasoned enough,” Roach told The STAR over the telephone.

The 27-year-old American, who’s never been knocked out in nine fights as a pro (6-2-1 with 4 KOs), had a very difficult time against the smaller and faster Filipino superstar.

Roach said Robinson wouldn’t be around when Pacquiao resumes his sparring sessions tomorrow (Saturday in Los Angeles). He only spars on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Roach said Pacquiao had a tougher time the other day, his first day of sparring, against Rashad Holloway (9-1 with 5 KOs), another light-middleweight who stood as tall as Robinson.

“He’d (Holloway) be around and starting next Tuesday we’d be calling in the good guys like (light-welterweight) Marvin Cordova Jr. (20-0-1 with 11 KOs) to spar with Manny,” said Roach.

Overall, the two-time Trainer of the Year said Pacquiao did well in sparring.

“Yes, he did very well in sparring today,” he said, adding that others waiting to spar against Pacquiao are light-middleweight Yuri Foreman (25-0 and 5’11”), and lightweight Amir Khan (18-1 with 14 KOs).

Pacquiao normally does 140 to 150 rounds of sparring as he prepares for a big fight, and Roach plans almost the same number of rounds even if preparation for the Dec. 6 fight is longer than the previous ones.

“We don’t want to overdo things,” he said.

Besides, Pacquiao has added some new training exercises under conditioning coach Alex Ariza, geared at building up his body to 147 pounds without him sacrificing or losing his speed.