Friday, February 27, 2015

Manny Pacquiao to arrive early to train for Mayweather bout

{Article below is first published in CBS Sports and Manila Times}

Manny Pacquiao will leave for the United States tomorrow, February 28, instead of March 8, which is the original departure plan of his camp. Pacquiao aims to begin his training early with Freddie Roach at the Wildcard gym in Los Angeles, California for his mega fight against unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2.


“We are just going to wait there for coach Freddie [Roach] in Los Angeles. We only have two months or eight weeks to prepare that’s why we cannot afford to waste time,” Pacquiao told The Manila Times in an interview on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum after Pacman’s team KIA posted a win over Talk ‘N Text in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioners Cup.



"Manny called me and said it's been so crazy in the Philippines that he is going to come over here early and probably start at Wild Card on March 2," Roach said Thursday. "Having him early is really nice for me. We'll have Justin Fortune doing strength work with him, and then we'll begin the boxing part and start sparring."

Pacquiao will not be working with Roach for the first few days as the trainer has committed to assisting Chinese Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming in his attempt to win the flyweight world title on March 7. Pacquiao insisted Roach stick with his initial plans despite the boxer's change in schedule.

"Manny told me I should be with Zou because he knows how important this fight is for him," Roach said. "The thing is, Manny is that type of guy. He cares about other people. He knows Shiming has a better chance to win if I'm there with him."

The kickoff promotion for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is expected to happen after Roach returns from China, likely on March 10 or 11. Roach expressed confidence that Pacquiao would win the fight and revealed that he has already begun speaking with his fighter about strategy.

"We just need to have the right strategy to beat this solid fighter," Roach said. "Mayweather is a slick guy, and he is not the easiest guy in the world to fight. He's undefeated for a reason. He's very smart. The thing is we have to attack him a lot and have that ring generalship, and Manny has to work on cutting off the ring. Everything will come together. Manny and me have already been talking about the strategy. Once he gets here, he knows what I want from him."

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