Pacquiao: “I can fight next week.”

After completing three weeks of high altitude training in Baguio City and a little more than a month before his trilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez, Filipino World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao pronounced himself ready to rumble.

“I can fight next week,” the 32-year-old Pacquiao declared last Friday as he wrapped up his preparation at the Shape Up boxing gym at Baguio home Cooyeesan Hotel.

“Kulang pa sa sparring at takbo, pero mapupunuan na yun pagdating namin sa L.A.,” he said. “One more week of training and I feel I am ready to face him (Marquez) and beat him again, this time convincingly.”

“I really feel good following our three-week stay here. Maganda ang naging resulta ng training despite missing some of the scheduled road work out because of typhoons,” he assessed.
Listening intently as he made his prediction were chief trainer Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza as they unanimously nodded in approval.

“Maybe not in a week’s time. There’s plenty of time left in or build up program, but yes, I believe him if he says he’ll ready to mix it up soon,” Roach said. “Certainly, we’ve lineup a tough sparring sessions for him in L.A.”

Roach said Mexican 140-pound challenger Roger “Speedy” Gonzales and Miguel Diaz plus two others are waiting at his Wild Card Gym to help the pound-for-pound king in his needs to completely feel his way atop the ring.

The four-time ‘trainer of the year’ honoree ruled out David Rodela, a long time Pacquiao sparring mate, who suffered a knockout loss in his last fight two weeks ago.

“Rodela’s out. I feel bad about it because he’s such a good sparring partner as he had shown in our previous preparations. But it”s different now that he was knocked out,” he said. “It’s really very hard for a fighter to suffer a stoppage.”

“We are targeting from 120 to 150 rounds of sparring to make
Manny completely ready for the fight,” he bared. “After Baguio, he only has logged some 40 to 50 rounds although think, too, we don’t need that much.”
“Much as I would want him to recover immediately from that traumatic experience, fighting, even in sparring, won’t do it,” he reasoned out. “He’ll be a big loss, really.”

Ariza, for his part, said everything has been set in place in the Baguio leg of preparations, agreeing with the eight-division champion that several more rounds of sparring and miles of running should make Pacquiao really fit to fight.

Both Roach and Ariza agreed that basketball, which their ward used as substitute for missing roadwork several times due to rains that struck the city almost daily, wasn’t sufficient to make up for the loss.

Ariza, in fact, has suggested swimming is the better substitute, but Pacquiao refused. He played his second love nightly right after his grueling training schedule helping his Pambansang Kamao team win the Pacquiao Cup tournament. over the Pacman side in an all Paquiao-owned finale last Thursday at the hotel basketball court.

Pacquiao and his team, including Roach and Ariza and assistant trainers Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri, flew to Los Angeles where he is to resume preparation at the Roach-owned Wild Card Gym in downtown Hollywood.

Pacquiao actually ended up his four-week Philippine side of preparation last Saturday at the MP Tower gym (formerly L&M Gym, which he bought and transformed into a four-storey structure in front of Central Market ) in Sampaloc.

Source: PhilBoxing.com

Get Set For Pacquiao-Marquez "Ring Life"

New York, NY – Two of boxing’s elite prizefighters – who are set to square off on Nov. 12 in an electric pay-per-view showdown in Las Vegas – will be featured on the next installment of the Emmy-nominated HBO series Ring Life, which will be available on the network as well as all the digital media platforms that distribute the series.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will be meeting in the ring for the third time in their brilliant careers, but their respective path to boxing greatness is a world apart. Born amid poverty in the Philippines, 32-year-old Pacquiao has overcome every barrier in front of him to become a worldwide figure. He is also the lone congressional representative from the Sarangani province of his homeland.

Juan Manuel Marquez, 38, is the pride and joy of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, a place where the prizefighter was born, raised and still calls home. He began his boxing career at the age of eight while sharing a spartan two-bedroom house with his parents, two brothers and five sisters.

Ring Life chronicles the lives of fighters as they define the spirit of boxing; balancing work, family life, training, expectations and the pursuit of their dreams. Front and center in these fighters’ lives, Ring Life presents a chapter on each fighter that delves inside their hearts and minds to discover what drives them in the ring and beyond, in the ultra competitive sport of professional boxing.

The Pacquiao and Marquez Ring Life profiles will air back-to-back on HBO beginning Saturday, Oct. 8 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. Each profile is approximately six minutes.

HBO playdates: Oct. 8 (10:30 p.m.), 11 (5:45 p.m.), 14 (12:30 a.m.), 19 (10:45 a.m.), 23 (10:45 a.m.) and 26 (1:30 a.m.), and Nov. 1 (12:30 a.m.), 4 (2:45 p.m., 9:15 p.m.), 5 (10:30 a.m., 6:00 p.m.), 7 (10:45 a.m.), 9 (8:15 p.m.) and 11 (12:45 p.m., 6:30 p.m.).

HBO2 playdates: Oct. 10 (7:15 a.m.), 13 (6:15 p.m.), 17 (7:45 a.m.), 21 (1:30 p.m.), 24 (9:45 p.m.), and Nov. 10 (9:45 p.m.).

New installments of Ring Life will also be available across HBO Digital Media platforms including HBO.com/boxing, HBO’s YouTube Channel, iPad and iPhone applications, and as free podcasts via Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Additionally it can been seen at www.dailymotion.com/hbo. Ring Life is also offered on HBO GO® and HBO On Demand® to subscribers 24 hours a day as well as on affiliate Free on Demand services and affiliate online platforms.

Source: thesweetscience.com

Pacquiao Breaks Baguio Camp Friday

On Friday, Oct. 7, members of the training team of world welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao will pack up their bags and break the Baguio City training camp ending a three-week high-altitude training and physical conditioning program supervised directly by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and conditioning guru Alex Ariza.

Pacquiao and his team will drive down to Manila after the training Friday, appear in his television show Manny Many Prizes on GMA 7 on Saturday before flying to Los Angeles in the evening to continue with the second phase of his preparation for his third meeting with Mexican boxing legend Juan Manuel Marquez on Nov. 12.

"Manny did good here. We made sure that his feet got wet here," said Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach to allay concerns that the two typhoons and ravaged the country and passed through Baguio City and the lack of quality sparring partners affected Pacquiao's preparation for the historic third meeting with is Mexican nemesis.

In the three weeks that Pacquiao stayed in Baguio under the supervision of Roach and physical conditioning coach Alex Ariza and the training support staff composed of Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri, he sparred alternately with Venezuelan Jorge Linares, a lightweight, Philippine welterweight champion Dennis Laurente and WBO Oriental featherweight champion Lorenzo Villanueva.

"We will have 100 more rounds of sparring (in the Wild Card Gym)," Roach said yesterday.

Pacquiao himself said he was happy with the Baguio training.

"It was Freddie who was trying to control me. I wanted to run more and train more. I'm like a race horse raring to run," he told The Manila Times yesterday.

In his last sparring yesterday with Linares, who will fight Antonio Demarco for the world lightweight title on Oct. 15 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Pacquiao showed exceptional speed and even goaded the smaller Venezuelan fighter to hit him during the seven round sparring.

"Go, go, go," he exhorted Linares as he allowed him to land punches to his midsection which he effectively parried with his arms. When he hit back, it was obvious that the Venezuelan fighter felt the power that Pacquiao is known of.

After the sparring with Linares, Pacquiao did mitts sparring and drill with Roach for 10 more rounds before hitting the bag and the speed ball.

It was not known who will spar with Pacquiao in the second phase of the preparation for Marquez at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.

Source: PhilBoxing.com

Marquez itching to knock Pacman out

JUAN Manuel Marquez has only one goal when he meets eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao in their much-awaited third bout.

“I’m getting the best preparation of my career for the fight on November 12, and going there with one goal in mind - to knock out Manny Pacquiao,” Marquez told BoxingScene.com.

The Mexican slugger has an unfinished business to settle.

He drew his first match with Pacquiao in 2004 in a match many boxing experts believe should have been given to the Filipino boxing champion after the fighting congressman from the province of Sarangani dropped the Mexican three times in the opening round.

But Marquez was able to hold on and fought the Filipino for 12 rounds before the decision of draw was handed.

Four years later, it was Marquez’s turn to pour on the heat.

Despite being knocked down in the third round, the Mexican appeared to have the match in his control.

In fact, Marquez landed more punches than Pacquiao. The Mexican landed 172 of his 511 total punches compared to the Pinoy boxing icon’s 157 of 619, according to the punch stats report.

Even the power punches went in favor of the Mexican, 130 of 310 (42%) to the Filipino’s 114 of 305 (37%), giving validity to Marquez’s claim that “he won the second fight.”

Now, the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization world lightweight champion Marquez is very focused and training hard at Mexico’s Iztacalco Gym, where he sparred with Ramses Agaton and Jose Emilio Perea, two undefeated fighters in preparation of his bout on Nov. 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fight takes place at a catch-weight of 144-pounds.

“Since the second time we fought (March 15, 2008), he has improved. He showed the teachings of his handler Freddie Roach, with his boxing, his punches are more technical, there is more use of the right hand, and he’s matured into an excellent fighter. For me, this fight is about pride, about dignity. Everyone knows I was robbed in the two previous two fights. I beat Pacquiao before, and I’ll do it again.” Rey Joble

Source: manilastandardtoday.com

Secret to Pacquiao’s power comes from PNCs, not PEDS

I AM not supposed to divulge this secret but I really believe that in order to prove to the world that Manny Pacquiao is greatest boxer of this generation, the playing field must be leveled and everybody must know what it is that makes him so fast and so strong.

Perhaps, Floyd Mayweather could learn from this so that he will stop using the PEDs excuse to cover up for his unwillingness to fight Manny Pacquiao.

Manny Pacquiao’s secret to his speed and power is not the PEDs, or lengthily Performance Enhancing Drugs.

Genetics? Maybe, to a certain extent, yes. But that is not what made Manny Pacquiao what he is. Otherwise, Manny’s siblings, specifically Bobby, would just have been as good as Manny or Rodel, the barangay chairman, would just as be as fast and as quick as the Pacman.

Also, if Manny is simply a product of an outstanding genetic mix, then we would not have a problem producing another Manny Pacquiao because all that we need to do is to convince Aling Dionisia to reconcile with her husband and produce more Mannys.

There are two factors that contribute to what Manny Pacquiao is as an athlete: 1) A mind so tough that brings about the strong-will to ensure hardships in training and the determination to succeed; and 2) a diet that helps develop the strength and fast muscle fibers.

Here is something that would make the Philippine hog raisers sad but gladden the rural farmers who raise native chicken, variably called Manok Tagalog in Luzon, Manok Bisaya in the Visayas and Parawakan in the Southern Philippines. In Malaysia and Indonesia, they are called Kampong chicken.

“I don’t eat pork but I love pure native chicken (PNC),” Manny Pacquiao told me last week during lunch in his hotel room in Baguio City as he feasted on huge cuts of native chicken meat swimming in a plateful of soup which submerged the white rice and green leafy vegetables.

Just like his views on family planning where he supports the natural method, Manny Pacquiao’s food preference is more of the natural. How it contributes to a body packed with power and speed has a scientific basis. Pure Native Chicken are raised in the backyard ranges and survive without any antibiotics or meat-growth enhancing additives.

Pure native chicken feeds on everything that nature offers to be able to survive. It’s just freshly harvested yellow corn, green grass, worms and bugs that they eat before they are harvested by the farmers and sold to the market in rattan crates.

The meat is firmer than the broiler chicken and the pure native chicken barbecue is one of the best delicacies that you would find in the markets in Davao City and Kidapawan City in North Cotabato.

For fruits, Manny loves the Philippine pomelo widely grown in sunny Southern Mindanao, mangosteen largely known for its anti-oxidizing benefits, Philippine mango and a little of the exotic Durian and the imported Ponkan and grapes.

How much contribution does the food intake has on the physical capabilities of an athlete?

Well, I am not an expert on human diet but I can tell you based on my experience in breeding and raising gamefowls, or the fighting roosters, that the food intake of my chickens from Day One up to the time they are ready for the battle would greatly determine their performance inside the pit.

Of course, genetics plays a big role too because even if you feed a Rhode Island Red with the best quality fighting food, it will get whipped by an average Hatch rooster because the Rhode Island Red breed is for meat and eggs.

But a healthy chick fed with high protein food and bred out of outstanding lineage will definitely perform exceptionally on fight day.

So there you go, Manny Pacquiao’s secret is not PEDs but PNCs, pure native chicken, and perhaps Floyd Mayweather will stop the nonsense about the Pacman using drugs.

If Floyd is interested, I can ask the farmers in North Cotabato to raise some healthy native chicken for him so that there would be a leveling of the playing field. He gets to eat what Manny Pacquiao eats.

But I have a suggestion. If Floyd likes to take the PNCs, he should get the Parawakan breed produced in the Southern Philippines.

You see, the Parawakan is actually a double-purpose chicken. They are brave and are also used for naked heel fighting by the tribes in the Southern Philippines and could go on fighting for hours until the other runs away or drops dead. Their other relatives would be the Japs, the Asils and the Shamos.

We call them the Chicken with the Heart.

Floyd could greatly benefit from the Parawakan genes because I think it is the heart that he lacks and needs most.

Source: manilatimes.net

Enjoy Manny Pacquiao while you can

“ You know who else does their road work at this Park?” inquired Big Steve as we began our run through Griffith Park on a rainy Wednesday morning:” Manny Pacquiao and his tiny dog Pacman.”

“I hate to burst your bubble Steve,” I replied:” But only Manny does his road work here. We just jog.”

Super star boxer, eight division world champion, Manny Pacquiao is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday for a final stage of his training camp in advance on November 12th bout against fierce rival, Juan Manuel Marquez. The road work at Griffith Park begins on Monday.

“I am not going to stay long in boxing,” said Pacquiao in a recent interview with Peter Maniatis:” Couple of fights and I will stop boxing and focus to serve people.”

The young boy who had to put led in his trunks to make the minimum weight to get into the ring at the age of sixteen, took the boxing world by a storm and went trough eight weight divisions. The only fight the world wants to see Manny Pacquiao in is the one with Floyd Mayweather.

Source: Examiner.com

Marquez training very hard

MANILA, Philippines — Aside from having a couple of unbeaten sparring partners at the Romanza Gym in Mexico City, Juan Manuel Marquez also takes a 45-minute drive to the mountains of Toluca thrice a week to build on his endurance.

Reports from his training camp reveal that the 38-year-old Marquez is training like hell under the tutelage of Hall of Fame strategist Nacho Beristain some five weeks before his Nov. 12 showdown with Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas.

“(Marquez is) training very hard,” said noted PR man Ricardo Jimenez of Top Rank from Los Angeles yesterday afternoon.

A few days ago, Marquez sparred a total of four rounds with southpaw welterweight Ramses Agaton (6-0 with 5 knockouts) and lightweight Jose Emilio Perea (21-0 with 13 knockouts).

Marquez said he wants no less than a knockout victory come fight night to prove he is the better man.

Training in Mexico City is already something else considering that the capital is already 7,400 feet above sea level.

Although Toluca city proper is nestled at 8,700 feet above sea level, the Nevado de Toluca – a dormant volcano — where Marquez does his roadwork is much, much higher at over 15,000 feet above.

It is believed that this volcano has hidden mystical powers and those who make offerings are amply rewarded by the gods who dwell in the stratospheric mountain.

Source: mb.com.ph