MANNY Pacquiao and his celebrated American trainer Freddie Roach are back in each other’s arms as the Filipino boxing superstar started preparing for his comeback fight against World Boxing Council welterweight champ Mario Barrios of the US on July 19.
Together with his wife Jinkee and family, Pacquiao arrived at Los Angeles International Airport last Sunday (Monday in the US). He was met by his oldest son, Jimuel, who is now training as a pro with Filipino trainer Marvin Somodio.
When asked by a group of reporters who waited for Paquiao to leave the airport about his chances against the younger and taller American defending champion, he smiled and replied, “Don’t worry about it,” in a video posted by fightype.com on its YouTube website.
After his early morning roadwork, he came the next day (Tuesday in Manila) for his first workout to kick off his training camp at Roach’s famed Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, where they prepared and conspired for most of Pacman’s highly successful and epic matches.
Completing the reunion was Pacquiao’s longtime friend and Pinoy trainer Buboy Fernandez, who was present while the Pinoy prizefighter went through his usual gym routine.
“Viva Manny to training at Wild Card,” MP Promotions chief Sean Gibbons told The Ring’s Manouk Akopyan, whose article about the workout was posted on the American boxing magazine’s website yesterday.
“It’s a tough road for anyone at this age to do what Manny is trying to do. But if anyone can do it, Manny can,” Roach said in a statement given by Pacquiao’s longtime publicist, Fred Sternburg.
The well-respected boxing guru was recognized over the weekend by the LA city government by naming the location of the gym as “Freddie Roach Square,” marking 30 years of the famous sweatshop’s existence.
“He’s (Pacquiao’s) 46 now. And even I, as his son, love him; he’s my dad. There’s also concern there,” the younger Pacquiao told reporters who were around during the ceremony in Hollywood.
“But I believe in him. He has shown us that he stays in shape year-round and all that. So weight is not gonna be a problem, fitness is not gonna be a problem,” he said.
“They (Pacquiao and Roach) formed arguably the greatest team in boxing history. Both made it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and all seven of Roach’s Trainer of the Year awards came while he was training the Filipino legend,” veteran American boxing writer Kevin Iole wrote on his website over the weekend.
“He (Roach) knows, though, who made it all possible,” Iole noted
“I owe so much to Manny Pacquiao,” Roach was quoted as saying.
Conversely, “Pacquiao, though, owes Roach an enormous debt of gratitude. Roach and Pacquiao were like Casey Stengel and the Yankees, perennial winners and seemingly always getting better.”
Pacquiao, who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York in June, will be up against Father Time and huge odds in coming out of a four-year layoff to challenge Barrios since losing his World Boxing Association super welterweight title to crafty Cuban Yordenis Ugas on Aug. 21, 2021 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ring pundits pointed to the boxer’s long inactivity and age as factors in discouraging him from battling the younger Barrios, 30, who is a head taller at six feet flat and has a record of 29 wins, 18 by knockout, two losses and one draw.
But with Roach back in his corner, Pacquiao, with a record of 62 wins (39 KOs), eight losses and two draws, is keen to show that he still has what it takes to prevail against the taller and younger foe, drawing from his vast experience and skills that made him one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters during his prime.
