Pacquiao arrives, focuses on Baguio training

MANNY PACQUIAO IS BACK and, as promised , wasted no time whipping himself into shape.

Hours after arriving from a whirlwind promotional tour of four cities in the United Sates and Caguas in Puerto Rico, Pacquiao sweated it out Thursday by jogging around Brentville in Biñan, Laguna, where he owns a house.

Actually, Pacquiao was also able to jog around Central Park in New York on Thursday and played basketball in San Francisco on Sunday during breaks of his joint tour with Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

Pacquiao is gunning for Cotto’s World Boxing Organization’s welterweight crown on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Jake Joson, Pacquiao’s chief of staff, told the Inquirer that the pound-for-pound king is slated to go to Baguio City either today or tomorrow to begin his preparations for the megabuck bout.

Pending the arrival of chief trainer Freddie Roach, Buboy Fernandez will supervise Pacquiao’s workouts, according to Pacquiao confidant Rex “Wakee” Salud.

Roach is flying out of Hollywood Saturday night in time for Pacquiao’s four-week training camp in Baguio. The buildup culminates with another four-week training at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

Upon his arrival at the Naia, Pacquiao told the media that he’s ready and focused for the hard work that lies ahead.

Pacquiao reiterated that eight weeks is just ideal for his training, unlike Cotto, who needs a longer time being naturally bigger. The two are fighting at a catchweight of 145 pounds.

Cotto started getting into shape as early as Aug. 3.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao lawyer Jheng Gacal is contemplating on filing libel charges against Floyd Mayweather Sr. for insinuating that Pacquiao, who displaced Floyd Jr., as pound-for-pound king, is taking steroids to beef up his body.

Pacquiao, who started fighting at 106 pounds, shrugged off the accusation, saying that he didn’t even know how a steroid looks like.

Source: inquirer.net