Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach felt a sense of relief with some of the recent training sessions with eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao.

Last Sunday, Roach arrived to the Philippines and was very disappointed with Pacquiao's preparation and his performances during sparring rounds. The 38-year-old Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 knockouts) is preparing at the Five E-Comm. Building near the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

He is scheduled to return on July 1 [July 2 in Australia] in a defense of his WBO welterweight title against 2012 Australian Olympian Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs) at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Roach saw much better work from Pacquiao, as the veteran sparred Filipino lightweight Leonardo Doronio for two rounds and then held a three round session with junior welterweight Sonny Katiandagho.

“The sparring session went pretty well today for Manny. In this training camp, he gets better and better every day,” Roach told The Manila Times. “It’s much better today.”

Roach is hoping that Pacquiao scores his first knockout victory since the fall of 2009, when he stopped Miguel Cotto in the twelfth round.

The veteran trainer had some concerns with Pacquiao's power when he first joined the camp in the Philippines, but those concerns are now a thing of the past.

He believes Pacquiao will be capable of knocking Horn out in the contest. Pacquiao's power was on display in both of his fights last year. In April, he dominated the action and dropped Timothy Bradley twice during their trilogy bout. And then he looked even more dominant when he put down Jessie Vargas in November on route to capturing back the WBO title.

“I know Manny has a knockout power and I still feel it every time I catch his punches. If you want to feel it, I will give you my mitts. It’s very hard," Roach said.