By Ronnie Nathanielsz

 

For Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao the fun and games are over and in typical fashion he has buckled down to the business of training for his “Unfinished Business” with WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel & Casino on March 15.

 

Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach has always maintained that “once Manny walks through the door at the Wild Card, he is relentless and definitely the best athlete in the world.” Pacquiao proved that again yesterday in his first full day at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles watched by a handful of people.

 

Pacquiao who arrived in LA on Tuesday in time for the official press conference ignoring skeptics who doubted whether he would arrive as promised, quickly buckled down to work doing several rounds of shadow boxing and also sharpened his reflexes on the speed ball and  skipped rope for several minutes.

 

In the absence of conditioning trainer Justine Fortune who split with Roach, Filipino trainer Nonoy Neri took over supervision of the various stretching exercises.

 

The highpoint of Pacquiao’s first day in the gym was his work with Roach on the punch-mitts. Pacquiao ripped the mitts with devastating power although it seemed, according to Dr. Ed De La Vega, that his speed was not quite there.

 

Roach told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that he and his prized possession would work on an “attack plan” to thwart the counter-punching prowess of Marquez. According to Roach it wont be the same Pacquiao who dropped Marquez three-times in the opening round when they first clashed in May, 2004. This time around Pacquiao would attack Marquez with both hands, having developed his right which Roach believes is as deadly as his left.

 

Games and Amusements Board chairman Eric Buhain who like WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum welcomed the recent change in Pacquiao’s lifestyle said “I think he is now a family man especially with the coming of his baby girl (Divine Grace) which is a big influence because when it’s a girl you have to protect them.”

 

Buhain said this was achieved also because of boxing because “its his bread and butter and that’s what his family name has given to his children.”