By Ronnie Nathanielsz

AS eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao enters the sixth week of training for his battle with undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., his celebrated trainer Freddie Roach has decided to bring in two new sparring partners to add to the mix and give the Filipino icon different looks as he nears peak form for his May 2 date with destiny.

There was no indication as to who the new sparring partners were, but they will join unbeaten 21-year-old  Kenneth “Bossman” Simms Jr. and UFC fighter Dashon Johnson, who bore the brunt of 29 rounds of sparring last week, with the exchanges picking up as the week wore on.

Roach himself said last Saturday’s 10 rounds of sparring was the best so far as Pacquiao and Simms went toe-to-toe in some furious exchanges, with the pride of the Philippines showing tremendous hand-speed and excellent footwork.

On Monday, after his usual morning run at Griffith Park, Pacquiao went through his regular routine at the locked-down Wild Card Gym, highlighted by 10 rounds on the punch-mitts.

As the days roll on, even Pacquiao has decided to stop giving interviews, which have taken up his time, to focus sharply on the battle up front.

ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo told the BoxingScene.com/Standard that Pacquiao and his family attended Easter Sunday church services before having lunch at a Japanese restaurant, joined by his family and members of Team Pacquiao.

Later on Sunday, he shot a music video for his new entrance song  “Lalaban na.”

Meanwhile,  Pacquiao’s former sparring partner, Russian Ruslan Provodnikov, who is known as the Siberian Rocky, has been working under well-known strength and conditioning coach Nick Curson.

The coach also works with some of the top fighters from the ALA Gym, including WBO light flyweight champion Donnie Nietes and IBF challenger Milan Melindo.

Curson told the BoxingScene/Standard that Ruslan, who is trained by Freddie Roach’s Filipino assistant Marvin Somodio at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, “looks better than ever.”

Curson, however, didn’t wish to make a prediction on the outcome of the fight against Argentine’s Lucas Matthysse, who has a record of 34 knockouts in 36 wins, with 3 losses.