MANILA , Philippines – If he’d need to throw Manny Pacquiao inside that black Escalade he’d do it.
Freddie Roach yesterday said he’d done with the one-week pre-camp at the Elorde Gym in Quezon City and can’t wait to get to Baguio City for the tough grind heading to the fight with Antonio Margarito.
“We’re done here. We need to move to Baguio,” said Roach, who said it’s difficult to deal with the traffic in Manila since it takes him easily more than an hour to get to the gym from the New World Hotel.
“It’s the traffic,” said Roach who had planned to take Pacquiao to Baguio last Wednesday. But a sudden change in plan had them pushing the trip to today, just in time for the start of the sparring on Tuesday.
Traffic was so bad Thursday evening that Roach, along with conditioning coach Alex Ariza, and sparring partners Michael Medina and Glen Tapia, jumped out of their van along North Edsa and took an MRT to Makati.
Roach was asked if he’d go up to Baguio today with or without Pacquiao.
“Manny knows me,” he said.
The 31-year-old boxer, however, assured his coach that they’d be taking the five-hour drive to Baguio today, just in time to rest in the evening, go out for a good run tomorrow morning.
“Tuloy na tayo bukas. Baguio na. (We’ll push through tomorrow. It’s on to Baguio),” said Pacquiao after his two-hour workout.
Roach said seven weeks before the fight is just the right time to get to Baguio. They can stay there for four weeks, then spend two weeks in Los Angeles, and the last one in Dallas heading to the fight.
“It’s time to get a little more serious now. This is the last day here. I will open the gym in Baguio a couple of times maybe on Saturdays but we’ll have it closed down in sparring. We need to start working within ourselves a little bit more,” said Roach.
Again, Pacquiao assured him of today’s trip to Baguio.
Source: philstar.com
