Last week, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach became alarmed when he arrived to the Philippines to join the ongoing training camp of his star fighter, WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao.
He felt Pacquiao's form was lackluster and the sparring sessions were a complete disaster. There were also reports that Pacquiao's shoulder was giving him some issues at the start of training.
Pacquiao is scheduled to return on July 1 [July 2 in Australia], when he defends his title against undefeated 2012 Australian Olympian Jeff Horn at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Fast forward a week later, Pacquiao's former has significantly improved and his shoulder is no longer an issue.
“Everything went well, Manny sparred for a total 18 rounds in three days, hit the mitts no less than 30 rounds the entire week and it looks like we’re ready to move to the next phase of the program,” Roach said to Spin.ph. “As we’ve said, the power in his fists has been there and he’s also slowly regaining his speed in both his fists and legs.
“He’s already throwing combinations, although still in sporadic fashion of three to four punches only. Our next target is to make him throw eight to 10 as he’d been doing in the past. That’ll be our next agenda starting next week. Manny is committed to prepare well for this fight and has not been remise on that commitment. The training team, in the same manner, is committed to prepare him the best way we can."
After a very brief retirement, Pacquiao returned to the ring last November to win a twelve round decision over Jessie Vargas to capture the WBO world title in Las Vegas. There was initial talk of facing Amir Khan on a date in late April in UAE, but their negotiations fell apart after the investors failed to come up with the promised funds of $38 million to stage the event.