MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao flooring Shawn Porter twice in sparring last Thursday doesn’t mean much for his chief trainer, Freddie Roach.
“Nothing,” said the three-time Trainer of the Year over the phone yesterday from Baguio City, right after another heavy, non-sparring day at the Shape Up Gym.
“It only means that he’s ready for the fight and that he’s doing very well,” Roach told The STAR, saying that Porter, the undefeated 21-year-old junior middleweight was floored twice by Pacquiao.
Roach said Pacquiao sparred four rounds with Porter, and caught the big and burly native of Ohio, a 2007 National Golden Gloves champion, with two powerful lefts in the third round of their skirmish.
“Yes, Shawn went down twice but he came back very well and caught Manny with a good hook. He came back very well,” said Roach, adding that Pacquiao also sparred four rounds with Jose Luis Castillo.
An Internet report said Castillo, the former WBC lightweight champion who came very close to beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2002, had blood on his nose after sparring with the hard-hitting Filipino.
As of Thursday, Pacquiao has logged a total of 46 rounds of sparring, and as the rounds increase to 10 and 12 over the next few days, he should have close to 150 rounds on the book before training ends.
Roach said Pacquiao has decided to cut short his stay in Baguio by a day. He said they should be in Manila on the evening of Thursday, instead of Friday, and train two days in a local gym before flying to Los Angeles on Saturday evening.
“It’s a little hectic coming down so we pushed the date a day ahead,” said Roach, referring to the terrible road conditions from Baguio all the way down to Manila due to the recent spate of typhoons to hit the country.
Pacquiao will hold sparring today against Porter and Castillo, who seemed to have impressed Roach with his style.
“I like his style because he likes to come in and tends to lean forward,” said Roach, close to saying that Castillo, who had two memorable fights with the late Diego Corrales, fights like Cotto.
A few days ago, there was a thread at Pacand, the highly popular Pacquiao website, saying that the Filipino pound-for-pound champion got knocked down in sparring.
But Nonoy Neri of Team Pacquiao was quick to brush it aside.
“Nothing like that. No knockdowns,” he said.
Not until Thursday, when Porter, not Pacquiao, hit the floor. Not once but twice.
philstar.com
thats bull.... they just want to make the ppl believe that Paquiao is a Boxing God... this media is so inclined to Paquiao... What Freddy is trying to do is trying to break Cotto's mind, like he did with Hatton making Hatton believe in one thing and then at fight night Paquiao doing another thing... thas Freddy's tactic, if he gets to take Cotto out of concentration then its an easy fight... for that he needs to make the press believe and tell everyone that Paquiao is super strong, super speed, super everything... its like the Hitler regime, he maintain his regime with fear... thats what freddy is trying to do inject fear in his opponent mind and his mind will crash and without a mind the body will fall, like it happened against Hatton.
ReplyDeleteoh cmon!!!obviously your boy hatton was destroyed by pacquaio and i know it hurts but thats the truth it will really hurt!!! do you mean that when mayweather sr was trash talking during their training and saying that pacquaio was no match for hatton it was a mental thing!!!you do not know boxing man!!!!!their mouths were shot by the fists of the pacman!!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first comment.First Roach said that Pacquiao was gonna k.o. Cotto,then he said that this fight will go the distance,now he's saying again that Pacquiao will win by knock out.Head games,all head games.But Roach is up shit creek without a paddle 'cause Cotto is very focused as a fighter,he doesn't let the media nor the fans take over his emotions.I see Cotto winning this bout via knock out in the 6th-8th round.
ReplyDeletei agree with the second comment.. more trash talking but what's the result??? Floyd Mayweather Sr. is more on trash talk and thats the prize he got... (^-^)
ReplyDeleteyou know i've been reading on this fight and I see the constant one sided no foundation comments that alot of individuals post. and either the hype has gotten to their heads or they simply don't know about boxing. I am a fan of boxing and a fan of both fighters, but you die hard Pacman fans have to be more realistic!!! I don't know if it's cause the majority of you are philipino or just ignorant die hard fans. But let me remind you guys that anything can happen in boxing or any sport in general. wake up! the comments on 1 round 6 rounds cotto is done, and all the other nonsense you guys post has to stop! I mean come on guys. any man can be touched. prepare for the best and expect the worst. and that go's to both fighters included you die hard pac fans.I know you guys want pac to win, but you sound foolish when you act as if cotto does not have the necessary tools to put it on pac. how would you feel if pac loses? what would you say then? THe greatest can be defeated. it has happened before and it can happen again. don't ever underestimate any man! wake up!
ReplyDeletei see an upset come nov. 14th. Pac is nasty but my man cotto has not only been training l month longer than pac to enhance his physical abilities, but to prepare himself mentally and spiritually. Pac has too many things going on. and roach can't make up his mind on whether pac will win by decision or knock out. on the other hand, cotto's camp aint saying shit. again, pac is nasty but over confidence on behalf of his trainer might back fire. I seriously beleive cotto wants this more. but we will see on fight night. someone pleeease come up with a site for after the fight. I would love to read pacman fans comments then if pac loses. and i say pac fans because they've been trash talking more on this fight than mayweather does. and no i aint mad or jealous or hating on pac he is top notch. but the comments and the underestimating is ridiculous. it's ok to be a fan and support your man but seriously! read the comments posted throughout the internet and witness the stupidity! pac has what it takes to win. but cotto wants this more. good luck to both fighters. que viva puerto rico!!!
ReplyDeleteits not about the quantity but the quality of the training...
ReplyDeletecotto has everything superior to every fighter that pacquiao faced in his entire career...
but good that pac learned technical skills so i think this fight would not be easily taken...anyway, as i've said we really don't care if pac losses, we accept defeats and learn from it...
win or lose pinoys goes with pac...
-athan-
if cotto lose this fight the excuse is overtraining.i see pac haters saying that crap.
ReplyDeleteI don't care whoever win or loss, as long as they brought the excitement that die hard boxing fans looking for..
ReplyDeleteNo doubt... I will give a credit on each other..