Pacman pushing Himself Hard - puts Team at ease

Filipino ring idol and pound-for-pound hero Manny Pacquiao is pushing himself relentlessly to apparently make up for lost time and distractions and has so far done well by all accounts.

Conditioning expert Alex Ariza told BoxingScene.com/Inquirer before the afternoon workout at the Shape Up Gym in Baguio City that Pacquiao ran in the morning and attacked the hills in Baguio City like never before.

Ariza said that after sparring on Tuesday, Pacquiao went through the grinding strength and conditioning routine and would do the same thing on Wednesday after his regular workout in the gym which would be highlighted by a session on the punch-mitts with Freddie Roach.

Following reports that he looked sluggish in sparring with undefeated young Glen Tapia but recovered and did better against the more experienced Michael Medina, Pacquiao responded as he normally does with a much better performance against the same two sparring partners on Tuesday.In fact Ariza said Pacquiao “did really well and looked so much better.”Even his sparring partners have indicated in the recent past that they were amazed at Pacquiao’s ability to improve in one day in terms of his speed, footwork and timing .
Trainer Freddie Roach told us Pacquiao was coming along nicely and “doing fine” showing no concern about where they are at, with exactly one month to go before he steps into the ring to chase an unprecedented eighth world title in an eighth separate weight division.

Pacquiao battles former champion Antonio Margarito at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on November 13 for the vacant WBC super welterweight title and although Pacquiao is a prohibitive 6 to1 favorite respected boxing writer Doug Fischer who watched Margarito train said the more realistic odds would be 3 to 1.

In an interview with Elie Seckbach of FanHouse boxing, Fischer said he saw a Margarito “who was in good shape in great spirits and definitely on target to make 150 pounds. He Looks strong and a little bit faster.”

Fischer said trainer Robert Garcia was not trying to change Margarito’s style because “he is what he is, a very strong fighter, volume punching, killer in there. He is the kind of guy who grinds the other guy down.”

Working on the mitts Fischer noted that Margarito was “working on certain strategies to try to deal with Pacquiao’s movements, his southpaw stance and his speed. They are working on timing, working on counter-punching, they want to hurt him there, they want to back him up against the ropes and tee off on him.”

Fischer said Margarito “didn’t look like a shot fighter.”

Those who have watched the strategy sessions between Roach and Pacquiao even in the early days of training at the Johnny Elorde Gym in Quezon City realize that trainer and fighter have the bases covered and were working on countering exactly what Fischer said Margarito and trainer Garcia were planning to do.

Pacquiao who doesn’t take too kindly to negative reports said the other day, “we have enough time to get into one hundred percent condition” on fight night.