Pacquiao to train mostly at Wild Card

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao must have missed the old atmosphere he has decided to do most of his training for his April 12 rematch with Timothy Bradley at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.

According to Top Rank chief Bob Arum, the eight-division world champion will train in the Philippines for two weeks before heading straight to LA on the second week of March.

Pacquiao stays in LA until he moves to Las Vegas on fight week. At the Wild Card Gym, Pacquiao will train in a newly-built section of the famous boxing gym.

Freddie Roach will fly to Manila straight from Macau where he will work the corner of his Chinese fighter Zou Shiming against Yokthong Kokietgym on Feb. 22.

Pacquiao is in the United States for the quick two-stop press tour that kicks off today at the Beverly Hills Hotel and ends Thursday in New York City.

Right after the press tour, Pacquiao said he plans to loosen up with road work and short stops at the gym so by the time Roach comes in he’d be in good running condition.

The rematch will take place in April or almost two years after Bradley, still undefeated in 31 professional fights, pulled off a Houdini against the Filipino superstar.

It wasn’t easy making the rematch happen because Pacquiao had really wanted to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. But the undefeated American is playing hard to get.

Pacquiao is hoping that an impressive win over Bradley, either by knockout or otherwise, could put the pressure on Mayweather to make the fight happen by the end of the year.

Pacquiao lost two fights in 2012, the first against Bradley and the second against Juan Manuel Marquez. But he bounced back last November against Brandon Rios.

The congressman from Sarangani fought Rios in Macau and did his training mostly in General Santos City.