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Pacquiao finally shows fiery form in sparring


BAGUIO City – Finally, Freddie Roach got a glimpse of the real Manny Pacquiao Saturday at his training camp at the Shape-Up gym inside the Cooyesan Hotel. Loose, relaxed and focused, Pacquiao heated up the closed-door sparring session held on a cool, stormy weekend by repeatedly pounding the bigger Shawn Porter in three rounds of heavy punching. From right hook to his dreaded left, Pacquiao was connecting on just about every angle, leaving Porter a little bit battered for the first time since sparring in his camp began last Tuesday.

Manny Pacquiao shows his form during his recent public workout in Baguio City. Dave Leprozo
Asked about it when he was finally doing some shadow boxing, Pacquiao belted out a wide grin on his face. “Relax lang kasi kayo," he said, huffing and puffing on top of the ring. “Masyado kasi kayong nagpa-panic eh." In the five previous rounds he had with the 21-year-old junior middleweight, Pacquiao was mostly on the receiving end, getting hit by solid rights and a couple of left jabs by the stocky boxer from Akron, Ohio. Not on Saturday. Although Pacquiao also got tagged by a powerful right, in general, the Filipino ring icon was in control of the action, often eluding many of Porters’ crisp punches that previously found their target.

Relax lang kasi kayo. Masyado kasi kayong nagpa-panic eh.
– Manny Pacquiao
The performance got more than just a passing mark from trainer Freddie Roach. “He was more focused today," said Roach, who just the other day denounced his famous ward for having too many activities outside of training camp. “There’s no more distraction and I like what he showed in our training today. He’ll get better as time goes on." Pacquiao also sparred for two rounds with Urbano Antillon, bringing to 10 the total number of sparring he had with the two Americans. “Are you alright Shawn?," Antillon later asked the former National Golden Gloves champion as Porter sat on a stool and appeared sluggish. Boxing fans, including the RP women’s team based here led by former Asian gold medalist Mitchelle Martinez, were allowed to get inside the gym when the five-round sparring was over, getting a glimpse of Pacquiao doing his routine at the double end, speedball and the skipping ropes. As he shadow-boxed, Pacquiao gamely joked with the crowd, mostly people from all walks of life, including children as young as one. 1-2-3 combo, then out Then turning his focus on a group of Manila-based sportswriters intently watching his moves, he told them, “Ito ang susi sa panalo," letting out a fast 1-2-3 combination before quickly moving out to another direction. Roach acceded that’s the best way to beat the 28-year-old Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 when the Puerto Rican stakes his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title. “The more important thing is the 1-2-3 combinations and then get out of the way," Roach said, believing the volume of punches and Pacquiao’s vaunted speed are enough to wear out Cotto. Conditioning coach Alex Ariza capped Saturday’s training by adding some isometrics on Pacquiao’s stretching routine, an exercise that improves balancing and incorporates every muscle in his body. At some point, Pacquiao grimaces in pain and was short on complaining about it to Ariza, who kept on stressing, “that’s just the start of it. We’re still going to do it for six more weeks." Ariza said they’ve been doing the exercise since the Oscar De La Hoya fight and plans to have it thrice a week on Pacquiao’s training camp for his "Firepower" showdown with Cotto. - GMANews.TV
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