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HOLLYWOOD.-
When in deep training, Manny Pacquiao is like an onrushing
train. Fluid in motion yet difficult to halt.
After
a back-breaking, two-hour workout and eight rounds of
sparring and shadow-boxing, there was only one thing
Pacquiao wanted to do at trainer Freddie Roach's Wild
Card gym: Work out even more.
While
other trainers push their wards to go the extra mile
in training, Roach uses his persuasive powers just to
rein in Pacquiao at this point of preparations for the
March 15 rematch against Juan Manuel Marquez in Las
Vegas.
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"He
wanted to do more (training), but I told him to cut back,"
said Roach.
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"The
fight is getting closer and closer yesterday, Pacman
made 10 rounds with the mitts and we'll break it down
as we try to slow everything down and just maintain
(that pace)."
After
watching Pacquiao execute their "secret weapon"
twice against Mexican sparmates Ramon Montano and Juanito
Garcia, respectively, Roach declared: "He is in
good shape and ready to go."
According
to a Team Pacquiao insider, the three-punch combination,
a Roach concoction, will send Marquez down during the
megabuck fight for the WBC and Ring Magazine super featherweight
crowns.
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"We're
getting close (to perfecting the combination)," said
Roach.
Despite
holding back on his punches and movements, Pacquiao still
mastered Montano, who will battle WBC lightweight titlist
David Diaz in the undercard of the "Unfinished Business,"
and Garcia, an unbeaten super featherweight prospect.
Pacquiao
knocked Marquez down thrice in the first round of their first
meeting but the Mexican managed to get up and control the
later rounds to forge a draw.
But
observers believe that Marquez will not be able to get up
from a Pacquiao salvo this time.
"Come
fight time, Pacquiao would be hitting Marquez with crippling
blows," said 71-year-old United States-based trainer
Ben Delgado, who was with Pacquiao when the ring hero first
set foot in American in 2001, in Filipino. "And he won't
be able to rise again."
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