Pacquiao Looks Good in Sparring With Rodela, Beltran

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

MANILA—Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao showed  “a big improvement” in  sparring at the Wild Card Gym of trainer Freddie Roach in Hollywood, his adviser Michael Koncz told BoxingScene.com/Inquirer.
 
Koncz  said that Pacquiao sparred a total of nine rounds against regular sparring partners, lightweights David Rodela (15-3-3, 6 KOs) and Raymund Beltran (23-4, 15 KOs), who are both small when compared to WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan and light middleweights Michael Medina (24-2-2, 19 KOs) and Glen Tapia (7-0, 5 KOs).
 
Medina and Tapia served as Pacquiao’s sparring partners in his Baguio training camp with Khan going up against the Filipino icon twice.
 
There was no word on what happened to the supposed new sparring partners of Roach led by undefeated Vanes Martirosyan.
 
The 6-foot super welterweight (28-0, 17 KOs) Martirosyan had vowed to knock down Pacquiao and earn the $1,000  that Roach had offered as a bonus to anybody who could drop the “Fighter of the Decade” in sparring.
 
Koncz said that unlike his past sparring sessions, Pacquiao “was not huffing and puffing at the end,” indicating he was in fine physical condition.
 
Conditioning expert Alex Ariza said Khan was ill but that there were no plans for him to spar with Pacquiao this time.
 
Ariza said that he learned from those who watched the sparring at Wild Card that “it went well and Manny looked good.”