By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Filipino boxing hero and the world’s pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao said yesterday after a tough workout in his training camp in Baguio City that there’s no need for his millions of fans to worry.
With reports swirling around him of setbacks in training because of the death and destruction caused by back-to-back typhoons and the summer capital of Baguio City being isolated because of landslides, Pacquiao getting allegedly beaten up by undefeated light middleweight Shawn Porter (10-0, 8 KO's), as well as reports of internal strife, Pacquiao brushed it all aside telling BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports "don’t worry, I’m doing fine."
Conditioning guru Alex Ariza who turned Pacquiao into an explosive fighter ever since he teamed up with three-time "Trainer of the Year" Freddie Roach to demolish David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in succession said, Pacquiao sparred three rounds with former world champion Jose Luis Castillo and four rounds with Porter and it went "really well."
Ariza said Roach who supervised the sparring said later "it was Manny’s best sparring yet and he’s on point and went seven rounds easily."
He said that while Castillo banked on his veteran smarts, he still had to get used to Pacquiao since he had never faced a fighter like him – "so fast, so nimble. Castillo was trying to figure him out. He still has to get used to Manny" added Ariza.
The former world champion Castillo has fought some of the very best in his career of 60-9-1 with 52 knockouts losing by unanimous decision twice to undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr, scoring a 4th round knockout over the late Diego Corrales, hammering Julio Diaz into submission in ten rounds and scoring a split decision to win a light weight title fight with Joel Casamayor and also tangling with Ricky "Hitman" Hatton.
Ariza said that Pacquiao sometimes lets his sparring partners hit him but that "Manny can hit them whenever he likes and when he starts going they can’t catch him."
At the same time Ariza said there was absolutely no plan to advance the date of their departure for Los Angeles where Pacquiao will continue his preparation for the "Fire Power" showdown with WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on November 14.
He said they would leave for Manila on Friday, October 23, work out one day in Manila and leave for Roach’s Wild Card gym on the 24th.
