The come back of the pound for pound king Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao in the ring this year against a 33-year-old former champion from Ghana Joshua Clottey is all set.
Pacman impressed coach Roach yesterday when he boxed 11 rounds with four different sparring partners from where he showed a good game plan. Coach Roach added that Pacman is in great shape.
“He did such a good job yesterday I almost wanted to give him a day off. But Manny won’t take a day off. We’ll box 12 rounds on Saturday. That will be our peak day then we’ll start tapering off from that point,” Roach told fighttype.com.
Six weeks of training were good enough for Pacquiao to reach his maximum potential of both power and speed. Moreover, with just a matter of days, Pacman worked hard for his timing and his strength and conditioning.
Roach, the four-timer Trainer of the Year recognizes the ability of Clottey but for this fight, he has reduced the number of sparring rounds of Pacman from 150 as in the previous fights to a little over a hundred. He is getting even more confident that Pacquiao will be the first one to knock out Clottey.
These statements of coach Roach did not bother Clottey. He takes the fight as once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be up against the greatest fighter of this era and he said he’s not going to waste it.
“I have more confidence this time around because I’m taking this fight like if I win, I have bigger things ahead. I have so much respect for Manny, so that gives me more confident because I respect the guy,” he proudly said.
Roach said Pacman scheduled to spar 12 rounds today and will start tapering off with two weeks left for the fight at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
photos from google.com
By: Christeen Gae D. Padilla
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