Pacquiao: "Good Times Are Over, Now I Need To Sacrifice"

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Ring Magazine featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao told Viva Sports/Manila Standard prior to his departure for Los Angeles aboard a Philippine Airlines flight Saturday night that “the days of good times are over, now I need to sacrifice” for the planned rematch with WBA/IBF champion Juan Manuel Marquez on February 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada even as he indicated that “six weeks of training is enough. I can handle it easily.”

Pacquiao who was mobbed at the Centennial Terminal of the Ninoy Aquino Airport by fans including scores of Filipino-Americans returning to the US after the Christmas vacation admitted “I will have to kill myself in training for this fight because I need to” after a series of late nights playing pool and having fun that caused concern among some members of Team Pacquiao as well as loyal supporters.

Pacquiao said he would begin training on Monday, starting with roadwork at 6:00 a.m. up the mountains of Griffin Park and would work out at trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and would be resting in bed by 7:00 p.m. The flamboyant Filipino emphasized that he would do “everything I am capable of in order to make sure I win” pointing out that with fights lined up by international promoter Murad Muhammad against Erik Morales and possibly a return bout with Marco Antonio Barrera sometime in November would give him a chance to have “a happy and
rewarding future. But first I have to win.”

Since negotiations with Marquez have apparently been hampered by published demands of trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain for a $1.5 million purse to fight Pacquiao who has been signed by Murad Muhammad for a purse of $900,000, Pacquiao sees the possibility that Morales who wants one more fight as a super featherweight before moving up into the lightweight division may step in and face him.  The Filipino southpaw with the devastating punching power said “I am ready to fight Morales because he is not such a tough opponent. Pacman (Pacquiao’s nickname) is willing to fight anybody. We have no fear.”