MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao has reportedly tapped the services of two fighters to be his sparring partners in preparation for his megabuck fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2.
This time though, Pacquiao jokingly refused to divulge the names of his sparmates for fear that Mayweather’s camp will again pay them off so they won’t work with the Filipino icon.
“My sparring sessions will start next week. Coach Freddie had already hired two tough guys who can help me in my preparation,” he told Aquiles Zonio of Philboxing.com in Filipino.
Pacquiao’s chief trainer Freddie Roach previously claimed that Mayweather’s influential adviser, Al Haymon, had offered money to some potential sparmates for the fighting congressman to dissuade them from helping Pacquiao.
This, Pacquiao said, is the reason he’s mum about the names of his latest two sparring partners.
“I don’t have their names. But even if I knew them, I will not reveal their identity. They might be offered money again,” he continued.
In a report by Agence France-Presse, Pacquiao resumed training Monday (Tuesday Manila time) with Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. Roger Fernandez, one of Pacquiao’s assistant trainers, detailed the WBO welterweight champion’s workout to the news wire agency.
“After the punch mitts, he spent four rounds on shadow boxing; three minutes each on the heavy bag, double-end bag and speed bag; three minutes on the skipping rope and capped it with around 1,000 abdominals,” Fernandez said.
Pacquiao clashes with Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a fight that’s expected to go down as the richest in boxing history. – Dino Maragay