“Sparring is not supposed to start yet. Dapat sa Tuesday pa,” said Pacquiao from his training headquarters in Baguio City.
“Pero feeling ko kundisyon na ako (But I feel I’m in good condition now),” he said as he explained why he jumped ahead of schedule. Pacquiao said his Nov. 12 fight with Marquez will provide the answers to all the questions surrounding their first two bouts.
“Dito magkaka-alaman,” he said.
Even his chief trainer, Freddie Roach, was impressed by Pacquiao’s condition since he flew in a couple of days ago and joined his boxer in Baguio.
Pacquiao moved to Baguio last Monday for his three-week training. The last four or five weeks are set at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
But unlike in previous camps, when Pacquiao mostly started from scratch in Baguio, this one is quite different.
In the two weeks before he went to Baguio, Pacquiao has been working out, either doing roadwork in the morning and gym sessions in the afternoon.
He visited the Planet Jupiter Gym in Makati a couple of times, and the MP Tower, which used to house the old L&M Gym, in Manila.
No wonder why after only a few days working out in Baguio, Pacquiao’s couldn’t help but ask Roach he be given four rounds of sparring the other day.
He climbed the ring against Venezuelan lightweight Jorge Linares and they sparred for four rounds at the Shape Up Gym.
Linares, gearing up for an Oct. 15 fight with Mexican Antonio DeMarco for the vacant WBC lightweight crown, was impressed with Pacquiao.
“He was very fast. You can feel the power in those four rounds,” he said.
“We did four rounds, and in the last round he was still very strong and powerful. He’s good,” added Linares, who sees Marquez going down inside four rounds.
Meanwhile, Arwind Santos and Willie Miller are expected to see action in Pacquiao’s mini-basketball tournament firing off today.
Nine teams, including six local squads – Tea House, Golden Pine Hotel, BMRP, Mustangs, Uno and Autofield – and three by the boxing icon, vie for a guaranteed prize of P350,000.
Pacquiao has confirmed Santos’ appearance as well as that of Miller’s in the three other teams.
The single-round robin tournament also serves as part of Pacquiao’s training for his upcoming bout with Marquez.
– With report from Artemio Dumlao
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