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by Rey Joble
PEOPLE’S champion Manny Pacquiao is unfazed by the fact that his rival Miguel Cotto has already trained nearly a month ahead of him.
For the Filipino boxing hero, the key to winning over his Puerto Rican opponent, is not to “overtrain himself.”
“I’m still on target because I’m planning to have eight weeks of training for this fight,” Pacquiao told media men during the launching of Head and Shoulders Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, to which he is the endorser.
The southpaw from General Santos City departs on Sept. 9 for Los Angeles, California, squelching claims that he will set up a camp in Baguio City and not train abroad. There were early reports that he will most likely train in the Philippines as he couldn’t get out from his many commitments, particularly in show business.
But Pacquaio will start training in the middle of this month in time for his fight with Cotto for the latter’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I don’t want myself to overtrain or lack training. Gusto ko ’yung tamang-tama lang,” said Pacquiao. “’Yung laban ko kay Oscar de la Hoya, I trained for 10 to 12 weeks, because that’s the ideal training as I was moving up. This time, dapat tama lang kasi galing na rin ako sa division na ito. It could affect my performance kung kulang or sobra ako sa training.”
Pacquiao is coming off a second-round knockout win over Ricky Hatton of England on May 2 of this year to cement his claim as the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer.
Cotto stopped Michael Jennings to win the WBO title early this year, but came out unimpressive in his previous fight with Joshua Clottey, whom he only defeated by split decision.
Pacquiao and Cotto will square off in a 24-foot ring, a ploy which trainer Freddie Roach said could work to his ward’s advantage as he can move freely against bigger opponents.
The distractions on Pacquiao didn’t sit well with Roach, who expressed apprehensions over the condition his fighter would attain come fight time.
“He’s not in training. He is making his eighth action movie in the Philippines. He is enjoying life,” said Roach in an interview with boxing Web site doghouseboxing.com.
“Well, right now I’m having a lot of trouble getting in touch with him. His adviser, Michael Koncz, is making all the decisions and he doesn’t want to consult me, he was quoted in the papers as saying that ‘Freddie Roach is only the trainer, we don’t need him.’ So I got a little ticked off about that comment,” added Roach, who predicted that this will be his ward’s toughest fight ever.
PEOPLE’S champion Manny Pacquiao is unfazed by the fact that his rival Miguel Cotto has already trained nearly a month ahead of him.
For the Filipino boxing hero, the key to winning over his Puerto Rican opponent, is not to “overtrain himself.”
“I’m still on target because I’m planning to have eight weeks of training for this fight,” Pacquiao told media men during the launching of Head and Shoulders Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, to which he is the endorser.
The southpaw from General Santos City departs on Sept. 9 for Los Angeles, California, squelching claims that he will set up a camp in Baguio City and not train abroad. There were early reports that he will most likely train in the Philippines as he couldn’t get out from his many commitments, particularly in show business.
But Pacquaio will start training in the middle of this month in time for his fight with Cotto for the latter’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I don’t want myself to overtrain or lack training. Gusto ko ’yung tamang-tama lang,” said Pacquiao. “’Yung laban ko kay Oscar de la Hoya, I trained for 10 to 12 weeks, because that’s the ideal training as I was moving up. This time, dapat tama lang kasi galing na rin ako sa division na ito. It could affect my performance kung kulang or sobra ako sa training.”
Pacquiao is coming off a second-round knockout win over Ricky Hatton of England on May 2 of this year to cement his claim as the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer.
Cotto stopped Michael Jennings to win the WBO title early this year, but came out unimpressive in his previous fight with Joshua Clottey, whom he only defeated by split decision.
Pacquiao and Cotto will square off in a 24-foot ring, a ploy which trainer Freddie Roach said could work to his ward’s advantage as he can move freely against bigger opponents.
The distractions on Pacquiao didn’t sit well with Roach, who expressed apprehensions over the condition his fighter would attain come fight time.
“He’s not in training. He is making his eighth action movie in the Philippines. He is enjoying life,” said Roach in an interview with boxing Web site doghouseboxing.com.
“Well, right now I’m having a lot of trouble getting in touch with him. His adviser, Michael Koncz, is making all the decisions and he doesn’t want to consult me, he was quoted in the papers as saying that ‘Freddie Roach is only the trainer, we don’t need him.’ So I got a little ticked off about that comment,” added Roach, who predicted that this will be his ward’s toughest fight ever.
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