Los Angeles, CA.:- As promised, here is my Wednesday report from the Pacquiao training camp at the Wildcard Gym.
I purposely got to the gym a whole lot earlier just so I can catch up with the training of Gerry Penalosa who comes to the Wildcard Gym way ahead of the Pacman.
Gerry came in at exactly 11:30am and immediately got on with the business of getting ready for his April 25th date with Juan Manuel Lopez in Puerto Rico.
With 24 days still to go before that fateful day, Gerry is already looking very sharp. In fact, one of the pundits at the gym stated that he looks so ready that he can fight even if his match with Lopez is done tomorrow.
Gerry sparred four rounds with a Filipino-American boxer they called Diamond.
He is a 130 pounder and had been boxing for six years and taller than Penalosa.
The young man gave a good account of himself but of course he was no match for the defensive strategist in Penalosa. He managed to sneak in a few good right hooks but he ate a lot of leather in return.
Then the Pacman came in way pass two o’clock. Apparently, he run up the hills of Griffith Park earlier in the morning and didn’t have time to get ready in time. Besides, he apparently wanted to finish some business before he came to the gym.
But as soon as he got to the gym, which incidentally was cleared out of people not connected to the Team and to HBO by security chief Rob Peters, he proceeded to the dressing room to changed.
His initial tasks were stretching exercises with Alex Ariza to get him warmed up.
Following that procedure which lasted about 20 minutes, he donned his sparring gloves assisted by Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri and climbed up the ring to do the punch mitts with Freddie Roach.
What was supposed to be a 10 round deal turned out to be 12 at first, then Pacquiao asked for more so they ended up doing 16 rounds.
All during the procedure, they were strategizing and rehearsing their battle plans in anticipation of what Ricky Hatton and Mayweather will come up on May 2nd.
Then the Pacman went on to do the single and the double speed bags followed by shadow boxing and the rest of the usual routine.
The crew from HBO’s 24/7 filmed the whole training regimen of Pacquiao.
After Pacman was done, Dennis Laurente of the Elorde Gym in Paranaque came up to do his thing. He was ably assisted by Buboy Fernandez with the punch mitts.
Bernabe Concepcion came along too. Although his fight with Steven Luevano has been called off, Concepcion appears upbeat and continued to do his part. “I am hoping they will find another fighter,” he said to this writer. “The promoter tells me that we should know in a week or two,” he added.
Concepcion worked with Freddie Roach and it was amazing to see Roach do some more punch mitts with him almost right after the grueling 16 rounds with Pacquiao. Truly, the man is a work-horse and a marvelous trainer.
Also spotted on the ring sweating it out were Bobby Pacquiao and Rodel Mayol.
Both of them indicated that they have no immediate schedules but they are keeping in shape just in case something comes along.
A couple of large boxes of shoes and training outfits, jackets and t-shirts were delivered to the gym. A quick perusal of the stuff revealed that the brand name was different from the usual ones we see with Team Pacquiao. But just the same, they were gifts to the Team and they were graciously accepted.
Also spotted at the Wildcard Gym today was the basketball varsity team from the University of the East headed by Coach Lawrence Chongson. They are in town to do a basketball camp in the San Fernando Valley area and then will compete against other teams in Las Vegas in about two weeks.
FightFan.com's Ace Freeman caught up with 'The Hitman' Ricky Hatton and got his thoughts on his upcoming mega fight with Manny Pacquiao. Don't miss this detailed exclusive interview, only on FightFan.com!
FF: Ricky can you tell us how you plan on fighting Manny Pacquiao?
RH: Cut the ring off and stay in his face. I need to draw him into a fight. Manny is an aggressive fighter and he has a lot of pride in the way he fights. Obviously Manny has good footwork and he tries to hurt you with that big left cross so I do have to be careful as I put the pressure on. I plan to use lots of head movement and jabs to work my way in. I want to pick off shots and hopefully when Manny misses I’ll land some big shots. I think Manny is there to be caught quite a few times in fights.
Exclusive Ricky Hatton interview on Manny Pacquiao:
FF:FightFan.com here with ‘The Hitman’ Ricky Hatton. Ricky thanks for taking the time. Can you please tell us your thoughts on the style match up between yourself and Manny Pacquiao?
RH: I think it’s a good clash of styles. Manny is very aggressive and I’m very aggressive. Manny is a southpaw but he’s not necessarily an awkward southpaw. I think when he commits himself with some of his punches he puts all his eggs in one basket. He really tends to commit himself with some punches. If he hits you… you’ll feel it because he’s got good balance and shuffles in and out. He tends to go for broke with some punches. With that said, if he throws some of those punches - and misses… I think he sometimes puts himself off balance. I feel I’ve got good balance and good footwork and if he misses I’m going to slip some heavy shots of my own in there.
In his recent fights with the likes of Oscar, Diaz, Marquez, and Barrera… I don’t think anyone has really put the pressure on Manny. I think that because he’s so aggressive everyone has backed off. I’ve studied a lot of tapes and I think the last person to put him under pressure effectively was Eric Morales. Morales was able to push him backwards and he beat him doing it. I understand I’m the underdog but I’ll tell you I’m going in to this fight brimming with confidence. I feel anyone who fights me at 140 pounds will come in second.
FF:You got a good look at Manny when you were ringside for his victory over Oscar De La Hoya in December. Can you tell us what you thought of Manny’s improvements as a fighter in the last couple of years and how you thought he looked at that weight?
RH: He looked very good. Any win against Oscar De La Hoya is an exceptional one. Pacquiao showed good boxing ability. Not to take anything away from that, but I have to say - and I hope Oscar won’t take offense - that De La Hoya looked like a dead man walking that night. He didn’t look like he had his legs under him and he wasn’t throwing punches. I think the trouble with the weight effected Oscar’s performance. Manny did outbox Oscar, but I don’t think that was such a difficult task on that night.
FF:Ricky are you the bigger and stronger man in this fight, and if so how will that play a role in the outcome?
RH: Yes very much so. I also think my speed with surprise him. I think people underestimate my speed a little bit. I’ve changed up my training routine recently after years of doing heavy weight lifting. For the Mayweather fight I stopped doing the weights and I think my hands have been faster for it. With another training camp under my belt without the weights I think I’ll be even faster.
A lot of people are expecting Manny’s speed to cause me problems and I’m sure it will to an extent, but my speed is underestimated. Paul Malignaggi is a quick handed fighter and I feel I was faster than he was.
FF: If Manny elects to box and move, how do you plan to deal with that?
RH: Cut the ring off and stay in his face. I need to draw him into a fight. Manny is an aggressive fighter and he has a lot of pride in the way he fights. I’m hoping to draw him into a fight. Obviously Manny has good footwork and he tries to hurt you with that big left cross so I do have to be careful as I put the pressure on. I think if you look at my last fight my defense was improved. I think it will be even better with another training camp under my belt.
I plan to use lots of head movement and jabs to work my way in. I want to pick off shots and hopefully when Manny misses I’ll land some big shots. I think Manny is there to be caught quite a few times in fights.
FF: If Manny does stand toe-to-toe with you at some point do you feel that’s to your advantage?
RH: I do feel it’s to my advantage. Obviously there are dangers for myself as well because Manny can punch… but two of his previous defeats (when he was younger) were from body punches. Marquez has shaken him up a few times, and I also saw tape of a fighter who knocked him down with a body shot. I also saw Nedal Hussein knock Manny down hard with a jab. He’s been hurt in the past and I feel I will be more in-his-face than those fighters were. Manny is a very aggressive guy and because he fights the way he does it seems like opponents tend to back off and give him a lot of space. I won’t be giving up ground to him.
FF: You’ve started training already. How is camp going and what are you working on?
RH: We’ve been in the gym two weeks now. We’ve been working on putting the pressure on and jabbing my way in, picking off shots on the way in. I’m working on slipping the left cross, so it’s all really going according to plan so far. Me and my camp are extremely confident as we approach this fight. I understand I’m the underdog. Manny is a modern day legend when you think about how he won his first world title at flyweight. I understand we’re the underdog in the fight but I feel that’s a great position to be in. Not a lot of people expect me to win but I’m super confident.
FF: Ricky in this day and age a lot of fighters are very selective about who they fight. You seem to always be gunning for the biggest names out there. Do you feel you get enough credit for that?
RH: Well in certain areas I get the credit but I think any fighter like Manny or Mayweather or even myself… there’s always going to be people who will knock you and put you down. I spent the earlier part of my career listening to people calling me over-hyped and over-protected, saying I didn’t want to leave Manchester and that I was avoiding certain fighters. I think if you look at the last few years since I’ve been fighting in America I moved up in weight to fight the pound-for-pound best in Floyd Mayweather. I’ve won world titles and beat Kostya Tszyu. I was the first fighter to drop and stop Jose Luis Castillo (with a body shot).
Now I’m challenging the best pound-for-pound fighter again in Manny Pacquiao. There will always be people who will knock you but I don’t think too many people can complain about the fights Ricky Hatton’s been taking over the last few years. It seems all I’ve been doing is fighting world champions up in weight and down in weight. I’m taking on the best fighters in the world and that’s what I’ve said I was going to do since my early days. There’s no fear in Ricky Hatton.
FF: That’s a good note to leave it on. A lot of guys are quite selective about who they’ll fight but I guess that’s why they say there’s only one Ricky Hatton! Mad respect for that. Ricky thanks for doing this.
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao will be in for a tough, competitive match when he fights British junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton on May 2, according to Pacquiao’s renowned trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach, who has trained 17 world champions, said he is devising a new game plan for the Hatton fight, which will be completely different from the strategy used in the Filipino icon’s last fight against Oscar De La Hoya.
Hatton is known for holding his opponents and crowding them in the inside to land his vaunted body punches. And unlike De La Hoya who was 35 years old when he fought Pacquiao, Hatton is only 30 years old.
Some boxing scribes also see Hatton improving under the watch of Floyd Mayweather Sr., who has succeeded in polishing Hatton’s defense at least for the Briton’s recent fight against Paulie Malignaggie.
However, Pacquiao’s camp is devising a game plan for the Hatton fight.
“We have a great game plan and look to fight the perfect fight again,” Roach told boxing columnist Scott Dryden of People’s Defender, an Ohio-based weekly. “If we do [execute the perfect fight] he [Hatton] will get knocked out in the later rounds. It’s going to be a good fight up until that point.”
Pacquiao, the reigning pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, is guaranteed $12 million, his biggest paycheck, for the megabuck fight to be held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
Roach said Pacquiao-Hatton would be an exciting fight because both boxers pack power in their punches and that they “come to fight.”
Roach, a three-time trainer of the year, said one thing he likes about Pacquiao is his discipline and focus while training for a match.
“Pacquiao is a machine. From day one his work ethic was unbelievable,” Roach said of his prized student. “He is the hardest working fighter I’ve ever seen.”
He recalled that while training for the Oscar De La Hoya fight, Mike Tyson dropped by the gym told Roach to slow Pacquiao down because they had a fight in a couple of days.
“I said, ‘Mike this is slow,’” Roach said. “Manny is just a machine.”
“Manny averaged 44 rounds per day. He runs a lot basically trains like he fights; no caution. He really works hard,” Roach said.
Roach said he expects Manny to report to the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood on February 24 as he and Hatton are scheduled to kick off the super fight’s promotional tour Hatton’s hometown, Manchester in the United Kingdom.
They will also promote the fight in London before flying back to the United States with stops in major cities, like New York and Los Angeles.
By: Jun Medina, Special Correspondent
