By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, fast getting into the kind of shape he needs to be in against Antonio Margarito who was described by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum as a “much bigger, stronger fighter who keeps coming at you” sparred ten rounds at the Shape Up Gym in tyohoon-battered Baguio City and “looked good” according to conditioning expert Alex Ariza.
Ariza told BoxingScene.com/Inquirer, Pacquiao “looked a lot better” that his previous sparring sessions and by starting with Khan “it brought Manny out of his shell, got on his toes because he had to deal with Amir’s speed since he is if not the fastest one of the fastest fighters in the sport and he’s a big guy too standing five feet ten inches.”
Sparring behind closed doors on orders of trainer Freddie Roach, the sparring “went back and forth” even as Ariza noted that with most of his opponents Amir “controls everything but with Manny he had to do a little more thinking because he had to be very careful.”
Pacquiao sparred three rounds each with Glen Tapia and Manuel Medina even as Roach told us that Pacquiao was “slowing down to their pace. They are a little bit slow and that’s why I am using Amir to bring his hand speed back. He needs to fight at a high pace. Amir is faster than anybody and I want to bring the speed back in Manny.”
Prior to the sparring session Roach told BoxingScene/Inquirer that they “need to reach a higher level and push a little and there should be no problem.” Roach said it was a good sign that Pacquiao appeared a little concerned about where he is at this stage of his preparation and it showed when he spent two hours training on the track in the rain with Khan as Ariza pushed both fighters to the limit.
Roach said he plans to give Pacquiao “two really hard weeks of sparring and then we’ll start tapering off and at fight time we’ll be ready. I promise you.” He said he would add undefeated Vanes Martirosyan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr to the list of sparring partners at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles beginning next week.
Both promoter Arum and BoxingScene noticed during the punch-mitts session on Monday that Pacquiao was working diligently on his right hand. Roach confirmed the observation stressing that “the left is dangerous but the right will knock him (Margarito) out.”
Arum observed “what I saw today really gives me as Manny’s promoter a lot more confidence. I love the way he was using the right hand because the right hand trust me is the key to the fight.”
Prior to stepping into the ring for his first sparring session with Pacquiao who plans to come down after sparring on Thursday, work out at the Johnny Elorde gym on Friday and leave for the US on Saturday night, Khan said there should be no “no concern over his condition. He’s been training well and looking in good shape.”
While he conceded that the “Fighter of the Decade” has been “quite busy with congress and everything and maybe that’s why sometime his mind is somewhere else. But I have to say the way he’s training sparring, running he gives 100 percent and on the punch mitts he can do 15-20 rounds easy and the fight is only going to be 12 rounds.”
Khan said “I know Margarito is a big guy , a strong guy he’s going to be fit as well because this is a big fight for him and a chance to make him a big star but I’m sure Manny knows exactly what he’s doing. He has the experience of being in this game for so long. At the moment I think his condition is okay. Speed is definitely his asset. You cannot develop it. You’ve either got it or you don’t Manny can’ t go in there and try to knock him out because he (Margarito) can take a good shot. Manny will use the angles and his speed can help him in this fight. Look at the shot that knocked out Ricky Hatton. It was so fast he didn’t see the punch. It was that quick. Oscar De La Hoya was a big guy too. Speed won that fight. It will win this fight also.”
