Quartet pushes Manny to the limit

MANILA, Philippines - Freddie Roach called it WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s best training camp ever and a lot of the credit is due to the four sparmates who took turns pushing the Filipino to the limit at the Pacman Wild Card Gym in General Santos City in preparing for his title defense against Chris Algieri in Macau this morning.

Pacquiao sparred over 130 rounds for Algieri and didn’t miss a beat as he took on three of his four partners consecutively every other day. While the sparmates only went three rounds each, Pacquiao had to go nine straight stanzas facing three different partners. The remarkable thing was at the end of each session, Pacquiao looked fresher than any of the three. Conditioning coach Justin Fortune whipped Pacquiao into shape, realizing it will take speed and stamina to wear out Algieri who is expected to fight from a distance and avoid engaging.

It was no accident that the four sparmates resemble Algieri if not in style, in height and length. Algieri stands 5-10 and has a 72-inch wingspan. Pacquiao is 5-6 with a reach of 67 inches. The four sparmates were 5-10 Stan Martyniouk, 6-0 Mike Jones, 5-11 Viktor Postol and 5-10 Jose Carlos Ramirez. Jones’ reach is 72 inches like Algieri. Ramirez’ wingspan is 72 1/2 inches. How Pacquiao is able to fight under Algieri’s length will be a key in his battleplan. He got a lot of practice sparring with the foursome.

Postol and Ramirez flew in with unblemished records. Postol, 30, has a 26-0 record with 11 KOs. Four of the Ukrainian’s last five wins were on points. It was reported that Pacquiao broke Postol’s nose during a furious exchange in sparring but insiders said it was just a case of a bloodied nose. Ramirez, 22, has compiled a 12-0 record, with 9 KOs, seven in the first round. He reached the Round-of-16 as a lightweight at the 2012 London Olympics and was eliminated by Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Goibnazarov. Ramirez turned pro after the Olympics and has since been on fire. He’s being brought along slowly. So far, Ramirez has fought in five four-rounders, five six-rounders and two eight-rounders. Only last month, Ramirez halted a former Pacquiao sparmate David Rodel in a single round in Fresno. On Dec. 13, he’ll see action in another eight-rounder in Las Vegas. Sparring with Pacquiao has surely been a confidence booster for Ramirez.

Martyniouk, 29, has sparred with Nonito Donaire Jr. and checked in with a record of 13-2, with 2 KOs. One of the Estonian’s victims was also Rodela whom he outpointed. Last August, he lost a split eight-round decision to Ivan Najera in Glendale and insisted it was a clear case of highway robbery. Martyniouk said from what he experienced in the ring with Manny, he’s convinced there’s no way Algieri will win.

“My job as a sparmate was to fight like Algieri and make Manny think,” said Martyniouk. “I don’t know if I resemble Algieri’s style the most among us sparmates but I was there to get Manny ready to win. That’s what I’m paid to do.” Unlike the other sparmates, Martyniouk came forward to engage Pacquiao and paid a hefty price for his bravado. It was reported that he suffered two knockdowns in sparring.

Jones, 31, started his career with 26 straight wins, 19 by KO, then ran into Randall Bailey who knocked him out in the 11th round for the vacant IBF welterweight crown in 2012. He took a 26-month rest and came back only to surrender to Jaime Herrera last August. Jones said he’s determined to get back on track with a new business manager. “Manny inspired me to fight on and sparring with him prepared me for bigger things,” said Jones. He checked out of Roach’s rotation when Ramirez arrived.

Fortune said the sparmates have Pacquiao different looks even if they’re all tall like Algieri. “Viktor’s a pure boxer, a stand-up fighter,” he said. “Stan’s a come-forward fighter who’s very busy. Mike’s extremely tall at six feet and Manny had to go under to land. Mike’s strong, probably the strongest of them all so each one is special. Manny had to work really hard every time he sparred with those guys.”