By Steve Kim

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is scheduled to work the corner of Frankie Gomez this Friday at the Fantasy Springs Casino. By the following week he'll be on his way to the Philippines to work with his best known client, eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao, who faces Tim Bradley for the third time on April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"I'm going to leave for the Pacquiao camp on February 12th and I get there on the 14th. We'll start training that day,"said Roach earlier this week from his Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.

When asked how long his stay in Pacquiao's home country would be, Roach answered,"We're trying to make it as short as possible but right now I know Manny's still campaigning to be the senator a little bit but I'm going to try to bring him back here as soon as possible. Otherwise, after the first few weeks I'm going to bring a couple of sparring partners out there, I think Frankie Gomez and Jose Ramirez, who's on that card."

In the past, Paccquiao has split his camps between the Philippines and the Wild Card.

"It's the usual thing Manny likes to do,"said Roach."We usually spend time in the Philippines for two or three weeks and then come the last four weeks here in L.A."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.