MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao is way ahead of schedule that after breaking the nose of his sparring partner, Freddie Roach decided to give his fighter a few days off in Hong Kong.
“That’s why I want him to come to Hong Kong. We weren’t going to come because the fight is more important. But the thing is that we are way ahead of schedule,” Roach told the South China Morning Post.
Pacquiao was in Hong Kong over the weekend and pressed flesh with his Pinoy fans. The trip was also designed to promote his Nov. 24 bout with Chris Algieri in nearby Macau.
The 35-year-old Pacquiao is back in sparring in General Santos City and will have more than a couple more weeks before he flies to Macau for fight week.
“We still have three hard weeks of work in front of us. With three good sparring partners, it’s working out well. I have one more sparring partner coming over as a reserve, but I will use him as well,” Roach said.
The extra sparring partner may be called in just in case Viktor Postol needs to have his broken nose fixed.
Reports said Pacquiao broke the nose of the boxer born in Ukraine after hurting another sparring partner, Mike Jones.
Roach had earlier pronounced that these sparring partners that he brought in from Los Angeles are better than Algieri himself.
“The thing is I have my number one contender from Ukraine and he’s a very good boxer and he could beat Algieri right now,” said Roach.
Pacquiao is in such terrific shape.
“We were sparring 12 rounds in the mitts. Pacquiao wasn’t even breathing heavy. His condition is terrific right now,” said the celebrated trainer.
Postol, the top contender in the light-welterweight class, hurt his nose inside the ring against Pacquiao but Roach said the former has no plans of going home.
“Manny broke Postol’s nose three days ago. But Postol’s okay. I train him. He’s a fighter, he’s a tough kid and he’s not going home,” Roach told the South China Morning Post.
Pacquiao (56-5-2), who has won titles in a record eight different weight classes, suffered successive defeats in 2012 but has got back on track with two impressive wins over Brandon Rios and Timothy Bradley.
A win over former kickboxer Algieri could bring the long-awaited super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr one step closer.
The 30-year-old Algieri has a 20-0 professional record and won the WBO light-welterweight title last month by a split decision against Russia’s Ruslan Provodnikov.
Pacquiao has not scored a knockout since stopping Miguel Cotto in Nov. 2009, and was himself knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 in his first outing after losing to Bradley the same year.
While some have questioned how much gas Pacquiao has left after 63 professional fights, Roach said Pacquiao was way ahead of schedule.
“Manny Pacquiao is in great shape. Our strength coach came in 10 days before me. He started working him and by the time I worked with him, we were sparring 12 rounds in the mitts,” he added.
“Pacquiao wasn’t even breathing heavy. His condition is terrific right now.” – With report from Reuters