Manny Pacquiao would endure anything for flag and country

HOLLYWOOD – Manny Pacquiao would endure anything for flag and country.

That’s why a little pain while performing abdominal exercises, at the end part of his training on Thursday (Friday in Manila), is nothing as long as you have millions of your countrymen supporting you.

“Sakripisyo. Konting tiis," Pacquiao, who grimaces in pain, repeatedly said while doing the work out with help of assistant trainer Nonoy Neri.

For Pacquiao, the eight weeks of hard training comes to an end on Saturday (Nov. 14) next week when he finally meets Miguel Cotto in the ring and vies for the Puerto Rican’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title at the MGM Grand.

Now in the final phase of a two-month preparation that kicked off in the mountains of the Cordilleras and about to end in the sunny but cool weather of Los Angeles’ Wild Card gym, the 30-year old Filipino admitted that he already feels great and ready against an opponent who only had a single loss to show in 35 professional fights.

“We’re doing great in training. I already feel strong for the 12-round fight," said the boxing superstar as he concluded another round of sparring (six rounds) against Urbano Antillon and Rey Beltran.

So far, Pacquiao already sparred a total of 144 rounds, with a total of eight more scheduled on Saturday and possibly, Monday, before his entourage leave for Las Vegas.

Buboy Fernandez, the other Filipino trainer of Pacquiao, said they’ve already reached their total target of sparring rounds, but wouldn’t mind going beyond that.

“Lahat-lahat siguro around 152 to 156 rounds ang aabutin dahil may scheduled na two sparring days pa," said the jolly Filipino trainer.

Pacquiao, the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter, said that the reigning WBO welterweight champion Cotto is the bigger and stronger fighter between them.

“He also punches hard. But I am confident about myself because I know I have been training very hard." he added. “I am ready to fight and I promise to do my best to win."

Three-time Trainer of the Year Freddie Roach agreed. “Manny’s happy. He’s in a good mood and we’re right on schedule."

As usual, Roach noted that his famous ward again played a little bit during training.
“But when he wanted to turn it on, his form was there."

Pacquiao began the day by running for 25 minutes at the La Brea Park, just a block away from his high-end apartment at The Palazzo, and then ended it with a 10-minute interview by the HBO crew at the Wild Card gym shortly after training. – GMANews.TV

This article is from www.gmanews.tv