MANNY knows.
That’s basically all I really have to say regarding whether seven-time world champion Manny Pacquiao is ready for his fight against Antonio Margarito or not.
A lot has been said about his current conditioning, since he had a very disorganized training camp this time around.
There were a lot of distractions during the first stage of his preparations, because he chose to attend to some matters for congress, personal matters and even had a meeting with the President.
He would motor down to Manila constantly from Baguio, expending energy he should be conserving for training.
Add the additional frequent basketball sessions, coupled by his missing a few workouts here and there, and you understand why his trainer, Freddie Roach mentioned that this was their worst camp ever.
Roach never wanted to train in the Philippines from Day 1, since he knew that the distractions were all over the place, but Manny is the boss and camp opened in Metro Manila first before moving to the City of Pines.
Now that the second phase of the training has begun and they are in Los Angeles, they have been able to catch up on his training, and Roach has been saying that Pacquiao is finally starting to resemble the “real” Manny.
The speed is finally up to where it should be and they need to just fine-tune everything leading up to the final 10 days of preparation.
While everyone was worried, Manny knew what he needed to do to get ready for Margarito.
He wouldn’t take Margarito lightly, since he knew that the Mexican was bigger and supposedly stronger.
The key to all his recent wins has been his unmatched speed, which just overwhelms his opponents.
Without this asset, he would be a sitting duck for Margarito.
More than a number of his followers expressed concern during the first few weeks of training, with promoter Bob Arum airing his displeasure publicly when he visited Manila recently, but they are now starting to feel at ease.
I’ve known Manny for quite awhile, and I even had a chance to spend some time with him in Singapore a few months ago, and one thing that has really impressed me is the fact that he really knows what he is doing.
In fact, more so now than ever before.
He shared with me a lot of his plans in Congress, and he didn’t only speak of what he wanted to do, but he had laid out concrete ways to meet those plans.
He has become such an expert at time management that he is able to fit in an incredible amount into the designated hours allocated for a day.
So everyone, rest assured that Pacman is on track for his coming fight.
Manny knows.
Tune in to Real Sports on Wave 89.1 today at 2:15 p.m.
Source: manilastandardtoday.com
