WHETHER he was joking or not, Manny Pacquiao told the venerable British broadcaster BBC that he “was worried” about his reputation when he faces American World Boxing Council welterweight king Mario Barrios on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.
“I’m worried for my reputation,” Pacquiao was quoted by BBC as saying in an interview posted on its website yesterday (Monday in the US), emerging from a four-year layoff for another crack at ring glory.
“But I’m making sure that I’m not a kind of fighter like other fighters that come back, but they are not showing what they did before,” added the Pinoy ring icon, who will not only risk his ageing body but also his glowing image against the younger and taller Barrios.
On Monday (Tuesday in the Philippines), Pacquiao returned to Las Vegas hours after breaking camp in Los Angeles, California.
“I’m still here. Manny Pacquiao is back,” the 2005 Hall of Fame inductee told Filipino sportswriters at his Penthouse Suite at the MGM Grand Garden Hotel, where, 24 years ago, on June 23, 2001, he made the world notice by snatching the IBF super bantamweight belt from South African Lehlo Ledwada as a late substitute.
Sporting a record of 62 wins, 39 by knockout, eight losses, and two draws, Pacquiao, 46, said that after 55 days of rigorous training since arriving in Los Angeles in May, he had what it takes to face “El Azteca.”
He cited the tried and tested training trio of American ring guru Freddie Roach, deputy trainer and longtime friend Buboy Fernandez, and Aussie fitness coach Justin Fortune, who had prepped him well for the coming fight.
“I’m sure my coaching staff like Freddie (Roach), Buboy (Fernandez) and Justin (Fortune) will tell me frankly if I don’t have that fire anymore,” Pacquiao said.
“But right now they’re very happy with my passion. They’re very happy with my training. They’re very happy with my speed and power. The fire in my eyes, in my heart, is still there,” he stressed.
In an interview with ES News yesterday on its official YouTube account, Fernandez backed up Pacman’s assertion, warning that “the storm from the Pacific is back. You just wait.
“It’s not yet over. The storm from the Pacific is coming.”
Pacquiao said that his family, led by wife Jinkee, had no qualms regarding his return to the ring again.
“I asked my family if they agreed with me or not. If they didn’t agree, then I’m not going to come back because I respect my family and I love my family,” he said.
“But they said, ‘Yes, you can fight, you still have that power and speed and you are dedicated.’ Because I’m a disciplined person.”
Although a 3-1 underdog, Pacquiao is aiming to follow the steps of George Foreman and Bernard Hopkins, who became world champs in their forties, and become the oldest world welterweight champion at 46.
