By Ronnie Nathanielsz, photo by Chris Farina

HALL of Fame trainer Freddie Roach said eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao looks phenomenal after the Filipino southpaw resumed training at the Wild Card Gym yesterday.

Pacquiao did 16 rounds on the punch-mitts after a morning run at Griffith Park and indicated his one-week layoff from sparring had fired him up, just as Roach had expected.

However, there was no definite word on whether Pacquiao will resume sparring on Tuesday (Los Angeles time).

Roach asked him to skip sparring last week after 29 hard-fought rounds the previous week, concerned that his ward may burn himself out and leave the fight in the gym.

ABS-CBN reporter Dyan Castillejos told BoxingScene.com/The Standard that Roach was “over the top” after Pacquiao displayed “amazing speed and power,” when working on the punch-mitts, during which the trainer got hurt after being tagged a couple of times.

Roach revealed that for the first time, they watched a video of southpaw Zab Judah in his fight against Mayweather and that Pacquiao was eager to learn.

Former Pacquiao strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza, who is now working with Mayweather, downplayed reports that the undefeated pound-for-pound No. 1 had a busted lip that affected his training and that his knuckles were cut and bothering him.

Ariza said the cut was caused by a head-butt in sparring, while the apparent damaged skin on his knuckles was no cause for concern.

Meanwhile, international referee Bruce McTavish, a New Zealand native, who has lived in the Philippines for over 40 years and is on the  verge of being granted Philippine citizenship by Congress, thinks the Nevada State Athletic Commission will pick Kenny Bayless to referee the Pacquiao-Mayweather Jr. “Battle for Greatness” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 3 (Manila time).

“I think Bayless will get it. He’s the most experienced and he’s done fights of Pacquiao as well as Mayweather before. Tony Weeks, the other leading contender is also an excellent referee. He is calm and handles himself very well,” said  McTavish, who regularly gives seminars on refereeing at the WBC Annual Conventions.