By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Former two-time world super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios is scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. today aboard a Korean Air Lines flight from Tokyo for the July 2 showdown against Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao at the Araneta Coliseum on July 2.
Larios who has been training at the Teiken gym of Akihiko Honda in Tokyo has been sparring with a roster of Japanese southpaws including WBC bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa and has promised to shock Filipino fight fans by beating Pacquiao.
Larios’ manager Rafael Mendoza made an effort to stop journalists from watching the Mexican’s workouts claiming Filipinos would spy on Larios to find out his counter-offensive plan against Pacquiao, a claim that was laughed off by the Pacquiao camp.
Meantime Pacquiao, pushing himself hard in preparation for his much-awaited appearance before adoring hometown fans, jogged at 5 a.m. at the Luneta near his Manila Hotel suite before sparring four rounds against hard-hitting Russian Rustam Nugaev in what Team Pacquiao member Relly De Leon said was a tough workout at 12.30 p.m.
De Leon revealed that Pacquiao was a picture of concentration and wanted no distractions . De Leon said Pacquiao “didn’t want to talk to anybody. In fact I was surprised he was on the road at 5:00 a.m with trainer Freddie Roach even though he attended the premier of his movie Tuesday at the SM Megamall.
