By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Recovering from the jetlag that hit him after his long flight from Manila and a morning run at Griffin Park, "Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao swung into high gear on his first full d ay of training at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach in Los Angeles, yesterday.
Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz told us that "Manny had a great training day" in his first workout in Los Angeles in preparation for his eagerly awaited rematch with WBO welterweight champion Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley who won a hugely controversial and universally criticized split decision over Pacquiao in June 2012.
Roach himself told us earlier that Pacquiao "wants his belt back" and it was evident during his two week training stint in his hometown of General Santos City and his first day in LA that the fire is back, reinforcing Pacquiao's statement to the Standard that "my time is not yet done."
Koncz said that Pacquiao "jogged in the morning, then sparred four rounds with Lydell Rhodes (the undefeated former protege of Floyd Mayweather Sr) and followed this up with three rounds against Speedy Gonzales."
Koncz said that "tomorrow Julian Gonzales is arriving f rom New York for sparring on Thursday" as Pacquiao gets different looks after his two weeks of sparring with Rhodes whom Pacquiao commended because of his style which approximates that of Bradley.
Roach indicated that he was adding former WBO light welterweight champion Kendall Holt who lost his title to Bradley although he dropped Bradley twice, once in round one and a second time in round twelve because he "likes to engage and has power" while another recuit, former lightweight champion Steve Forbes was a boxer and intelligent with Speedy Gonzales providing what h is name implies, speed.