Explosive Pacquiao staggers bigger sparmate

Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao once again showed explosive form in his training for his March 13 fight with Joshua Clottey, nearly knocking out his bigger sparmate during Saturday’s sessions at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. Sportscaster Chino Trinidad reported on QTV’s Balintanghali on Sunday that Pacquiao staggered 5-foot-9 Mikel Dallas (11-0-1) with a crunching left uppercut that almost made him kiss the canvas. “Doon sa isang portion ng sparring, tinamaan ni Manny Pacquiao ng isang combination punch – isang fake na kanan at uppercut na kaliwa – si Dallas. Pagtama nito, akala ko ay napapikit at malalaglag sa kanyang pwesto sa sixth round ng kanyang sparring against Manny Pacquiao si Dallas," Trinidad reported. According to the veteran sportscaster and boxing commentator, Pacquiao let it all out in his eight rounds of sparring (four with Jose Beltran and another four with Dallas) after rains again impeded his roadwork sessions.
Trinidad assessed Pacquiao to be presently around 70% in shape for his showdown with Clottey. “Makikita natin na unti-uti nang lumalabas ang galling ni Manny Pacquiao, bumabalik na yung timing na naging problema in the first two days. Yung lakas, bilis at galaw ng paa na magiging problema ni Clottey ay nandito na," he observed. Pacquiao himself reported that his first two weeks of training have been great so far. “Papasok na tayo sa huling limang linggo bago ang laban kontra sa Afrikanong si Joshua Clottey na gaganapin sa Dallas Cowboys Arena sa Arlington, Texas at masasabi kong maganda naman ang takbo ng training namin dito sa Los Angeles," the Pacman wrote in his Kumbinasyon column for Abante and PhilBoxing.Com. The 31-year-old Pacquiao is further inspired to improve more and be at the top of his game after receiving the "Fighter of the Decade" accolade as well as his third "Fighter of the Year" award from the Boxing Writers’ Association of America. “I have sacrificed a lot of blood, sweat, aches and tears before I became Fighter of the Decade. I thank the Lord God for giving these blessings. I will not stop to fight and fight harder so that I can give more joy and excitement in the ring to all of my fans. They are the reasons why I try to become better and better each fight," he said. Pacquiao, the world’s consensus best fighter, pound for pound, will be staking his WBO welterweight title against Clottey, who had previously vied for the same belt in a losing bid against Miguel Cotto in June 2009. - GMANews.TV