A few days ago, fans of WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao became alarmed after head trainer Freddie Roach revealed that the Filipino superstar's training camp had got off to a terrible start.
Pacquiao defends his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight championship against 2012 Australian Olympian Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 12 KOs). The fight takes place on July 1 in Brisbane [July 2 in Australia], with over 50,000 fans expected at the Suncorp Stadium.
Roach explained that he was very disappointed after arriving to the Philippines on Sunday and observing Pacquiao's training at the Elorde Gym in Five Ecomm. Building.
The Hall of Fame trainer appeared to be frustrated and even admitted that he now has reservations about a knockout prediction for Pacquiao's next fight. Pacquiao has not scored a knockout win in eight years, since stopping Miguel Cotto in November of 2009. Based on Pacquiao's training, Roach actually retracted his knockout prediction.
“We are far behind. Those five rounds of sparring were the worst I have seen him spar,” said Roach to the Manila Times. “Overall, the second day of sparring was not great I didn’t expect him to be good. But I think he’s getting there."
“Manny has not done any knockout for a long time. He got to show here in the sparring that he wants to knock him down. So I don’t know, I cannot predict that anymore."
Pacquiao’s long-time strength and conditioning coach, Justin Fortune, said there’s no reason to panic because the Filipino boxer was “way behind the training schedule.”
“He (Pacquiao) is about 60 percent now and we still have good five or six weeks of training, a solid training ahead us, so we’re taking the training wisely,” Fortune told The Manila Times in an interview. “He needs to be very smart and avoid to be over trained,” Fortune told Manila Times.
“I expect a knockout win for Manny because Jeff Horn is not afraid to fight and that will be his downfall. He comes to fight but Manny is too fast and too strong. Horn is fast and strong also but on a different level, very far. As long as it lasts, I guess it’s going to be a good fight."