Pacman also starts workout early

MANILA, Philippines - Rest assured that Manny Pacquiao isn’t taking Shane Mosley lightly.

Exactly two months before the scheduled fight at the MGM Grand, Pacquiao has been out on the road a couple of times, and in the gym the other day as he began his preparations.

“I did six rounds with the mitts with Buboy (Fernandez) today,” said Pacquiao Saturday evening during the star-studded Philippine Sportswriters Association awards night.

Pacquiao was there as guest speaker – the first time that an athlete was accorded the honor by the country’s oldest organization. In the past, presidents were normally invited to deliver the keynote speech.

Pacquiao said he wanted to make sure he’s on with training early.

“Mahirap na (It’s tough),” he said when asked why he started out early, even when his chief trainer, Freddie Roach, and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, have yet to arrive.

Pacquiao said Ariza will come in next week, earlier than Roach so they could get down harder in training, either in General Santos City or right in Metro Manila.

High-altitude training in Baguio City should begin not later than March 13. They will start there three to four weeks before moving on to the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.

“Hindi mo masabi ang boksing. Dapat handa ka kasi sigurado, handang-handa si Mosley (In boxing, you can never tell. I should be ready because I’m sure Mosley will be),” he said.

Pacquiao arrived halfway through the ceremony where the best and the brightest of Philippine sports, from past champions to present and upcoming ones.

Boxing referee Carlos Padilla Jr., who worked the iconic Thrilla in Manila between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award.

As well as Virgilio Dalupan, the winningest Filipino basketball coach ever. Pacquiao posed before the cameras, in between the two sports luminaries.

The packed ballroom of the Manila Hotel welcomed the arrival of Pacquiao, and soon after people were lining up behind him, seeking autographs and pictures with him.

Pacquiao stayed for over an hour, and had to leave after delivering his speech, and handing out the awards to the Filipino Athletes of the Year for 2010.

But it took him another hour to get out of the building, with so many admirers getting a hold of him every inch of the way.

The masters of ceremony were already wrapping up the affair by the time Pacquiao managed to board his black Escalade.

The other day, Mosley was interviewed by ESNews at his Big Bear training camp, and rued the fact that some people close to Pacquiao seem to be taking him lightly.

While there’s the fight coming up, reports coming out were about the possibility of a fight with Floyd Mayweather or how a showdown with Ricardo Mayorga would sell on pay-per-view.

“I think they’re taking me lightly because they feel that I’m old. They feel that my last two fights were not spectacular. But this particular fight is different,” he said.

“I’m going to be the hardest fighter he fought in his whole life. He’s never going to fight a guy like me, ever.

“They have no idea what they put their man into. They have no idea right now. No idea of what’s about to happen,” Mosley added.

Pacquiao knows. And he’s not taking things lightly.