Pacquiao Gave No Assurance of K.O. Win

GENERAL SANTOS City- Once again, Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao is offering his April 12 bout against Timothy Bradley to all Filipinos.

But do not be surprise if there will be no knock-out victory as the God-fearing Champ has again set into motion barely more than a month before his fight in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

“Gawin lamang natin ang lahat ng makaya natin, yung trabaho natin as a boxer sa training ginagawa natin. Sa gabi ng laban kung ano man ang mangyari nasa kamay na nang Panginoon, (I will just do all the best I can, my profession as boxer, I am doing it in training. On fight night whatever happens it is all up to God Almighty), “ he told scribes here inside his Pacman Wildcard gym that included MetroCebu News (MCN), hours before he left for Manila in route to his Los Angeles flight last Saturday evening.

Dedicated to All Filipinos

He did not say whether a knock-out would indeed happen but he assured his countrymen that the fight is for them, not only for his self and his family.

“Ang tagumpay natin ay hindi lang tagumpay ng pamilya ko, tagumpay natin lahat ito. Lahat ng laban ko ay alay ko sa buong sambayanang Pilipino, (My victory is not only the victory for my family, it will be a victory for all of us. All my fights are dedicated to the entire Filipino nation),” he said.

A New Manny

Coach Cecilio Flores, one of his strength and conditioning coach who will work with Justin Fortune in the Los Angeles Wildcard gym of Coach Freddie Roach, assured however that a reinvigorated Pacquiao will emerge on the fight night.

“You will see a new Manny Pacquiao, he is one of the most hard working athletes that I worked with. That is the reason why he is the best in the world,” Flores said in an exclusive interview with MetroCebu News (MCN).

Flores said that along with Fortune, they prepared a customized training regimen for their prized fighter, who is also a Filipino lawmaker representing the lone province of Sarangani in the House of Representatives.

“Every athlete is different. We want to customize for Manny,” Flores said.

Flores has been previously hired by Argentinian’s WBC Middleweight Sergio Martinez and WBO Welterweight Marcos Maidana, former WBC champion Kelly Pavlik of America and even the fallen Brandon “Bam-Bam” Rios, whom Pacquiao has soundly defeated in their November bout last year in Macau.

Flores during the Rios fight was not already in the corner of the Mexican-American boxer since Alex Ariza, then the former conditioning coach of Pacquiao, transferred to the Rios camp after his falling out with Roach.

Organic Diet But No Plyometrics

According to Flores, Ariza was so particular with the so-called plyometrics, a training regimen composed of jumping exercises with the goal of increasing speed and power of an athlete.

But Flores said it would be different this time as they are seeing to it that Pacquiao would not over-train, and thus would appear sluggish at fight night.

Pacquiao himself has complained that when Ariza worked with him, he has encountered muscle stiffening (cramps), which did not anymore occur during his fight with Rios at the Kotai Arena of The Venetian Macao.

Aside from the new training regimen, Flores (who is also a nutritionist), has also implemented an all organic diet for the fighting Sarangani congressman, where Pacquiao will just eat vegetables, fish, fruits and other natural foods which are chemical free.

No High-Altitude Training

For his part, Roach said that among the training regimen which they did not implement is the high-altitude training. He stressed that the fight venue in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a relatively low-altitude area, the same with their final training site- his gym in Los Angeles.

“It’s ridiculous unless you fight in a high altitude, sea level in L.A., in Las Vegas its about fifteen hundred feet, no sense of training in high altitude,” Roach told MCN.

The final four weeks of training would involve fighting with known sparring mates which included Kendall Holt and Steve Forbes. Of the two, Holt, an American former WBO light-welterweight champion has the distinction of knocking down Bradley in their fight in 2009, in the 1st and 12th round, but lost in the final scorecards via a unanimous decision because most of the rounds were dominated by Bradley.

Roach Sarcasm over Marquez Announcement

Meanwhile, Roach sounded sarcastic over the announcement of Juan Manuel Marquez’ willingness to fight Pacquiao on a fifth time.

Quoting sources from Top Rank Promotions which is promoting Pacquiao, Marquez said he is willing to fight whoever will win between the fighting Filipino lawmaker and Bradley, who incidentally, however, has already won against Marquez last October 2013 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Marquez in December 2012 has knocked out Pacquiao during the 6th round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena but the Filipino boxing icon has bounced back convincingly by dominating Rios last November 23, 2013 in Kotai Arena in Macau.

“I am not thinking about him (Marquez) right now, who cares? All I care about right now is Bradley,” Roach sarcastic remark went when asked by MCN bout the willingness of Marquez to fight Pacquiao, their fifth fight if ever.

Pacquiao scored two victories, drew once, and Marquez winning by K.O. the last time.

Marquez is already 40 years old, assuming the fifth encounter happens while Pacquiao is younger at 35.