Acid reflux weakens Pacquiao; Roach not worried

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao appeared listless in training camp on Thursday, blaming a bout with acid reflux as the cause for his sub-par showing at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. No need to push the panic button though, Freddie Roach assured. "Overall, I'm happy with his performance, but he had a little problem with his acid reflux. He told me he didn't feel good," Roach explained afterward. Pacquiao sparred eight rounds on Thanksgiving Thursday, going four hard rounds each with Marvin Cordova and Rashad Holloway in a session that saw the two junior middleweights stand their ground against Pacquiao. But Roach expressed little or no anxiety at all with the way Pacquiao moved inside the ring, insisting he's still satisfied with the way his ward performed. Acid reflux happens when a muscle at the end of the esophagus does not close properly, allowing stomach contents to leak back - or reflux - into the esophagus and irritate it. Pacquiao has had the digestive disorder as early as two years ago and it has been recurring since. "I'm not really worried," Roach said. "He's ready to fight. The thing here is, we're just maintaining it right now, just try to stay sharp. We've worked the body pretty well today and I'm very happy with that. Overall, we're good." Counting Wednesday, Pacquiao has now sparred a total of 153 rounds. He is set to spar six more on Saturday and four on Monday before he leaves for Las Vegas. "[Manny] was playing a little bit, but I saw him get serious," Roach said. "He finally came out in the last round. I saw explosion when he wanted it, it was there for him…" "Manny is never the one who does 100 percent in the gym because he's always playful a little bit and a little generous to his sparring partners," Roach added. Holloway agreed, pointing out that even the great names such as former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson also experienced some bad days in training camp. "Everybody had good days and bad days in the gym. Some days some guys have the upperhand," he said. Pacquiao appeared to feel better later on when he arrived in his posh Palazzo apartment to celebrate Thanksgiving Day along with wife Jinkee, close family friends and relatives, and members of his team led by Roach and fitness and conditioning coach Alex Ariza. Pacquiao took a pill for hyperacidity before partaking a sumptuous meal consisting of chicken adobo, lapu-lapu escabeche and chop suey. He then attended a Mass held at the living room of his apartment before finally calling it a day just before 9 p.m. - GMANews.TV