By Ronnie Nathanielsz
It appears that Manny Pacquiao has not flown into Los Angeles as expected. Manny has decided to postpone his scheduled departure for Los Angeles to begin training at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach for his September 10 bout against durable Mexican veteran Hector Velasquez.
Pacquiao told Viva Sports/Manila Standard today that he was not leaving as scheduled night and instead planned "to train here for a few days" before flying to Los Angeles where Roach has reportedly decided to impose strict security measures to prevent fans and hangers-on from crowding the gym and disturbing Pacquiao during training.
Although Roach has expressed confidence that Pacquiao can handle Velasquez, there has been some concern among the Filipino southpaw’s supporters that with just over one month remaining before his fight, it may be too short to get into good shape.
They also pointed out that Velasquez is a durable fighter who likes to go to the body a lot and if Pacquiao is not in great shape, he may have problems. Velasquez is coming off a knockout victory over Trinidad Mendoza.
Pacquiao has been doing the rounds of cockfighting circuits and was last reported to have emerged co-champion at a three-cock derby in the Makati Coliseum.