Boxingtalk reached across the the Pacific to catch up with Freddie Roach for an update on Manny Pacquiao's training camp. Freddie is quite please with Manny's progress thus far, and reiterates that they are not taking Marco Antonio Barrera lightly. Roach also squashes any rumors that a rift between himself and Pacquiao ever existed.
BC – Freddie how are things going over there in The Philippines?
FR – Everything is going great, we started sparring on Monday, and today will be our second day of sparring. Everything is right on schedule.
BC – Are you satisfied with where Manny is at in training at this point?
FR – Yes because we have 7 weeks from Monday, and we normally don't start sparring until 6 weeks. Manny is in great shape, and he's at 137 pounds right now, and the weight is coming off. The gym is really nice here. It's hot though, but that's ok.
BC – Where would you prefer Manny to train, The Philippines or in Los Angeles?
FR – The nice thing about training over here in The Philippines, is that I can concentrate on Manny, just one fighter. In Los Angeles, I have so many other fighters to worry about, but over here I just have Manny to worry about. We are really focused on our game-plan over here.
BC – Do you think you may train Manny over in The Philippines for Manny's future fights?
FR – It's definitely a possibility. A lot of people think that there are more distractions over here, but we pretty much emptied the gym. At first we had a few hundred people in here, but were down to like 10 people in the gym now. We will be here until September 22nd, and then we'll go to Vegas seven days before the fight.
BC – For those who may have not have heard, tell everyone the reason Manny decided to leave Los Angeles, and train in The Philippines.
FR – He was having some personal problems to work out, so he asked if it would be ok if I come over here and train him. So I said, “why not?”
BC – Barrera is going to come out all guns blazing, what are your thoughts on that?
FR – We are going to be ready to fight Barrera, we'll be in the base shape as we can. I don't think Barrera will be a problem for Manny, were going to push him to the limit, and make him fight every minute of every round.
BC – Just to squash any rumors, was there any rift between you and Manny prior to him leaving for The Philippines?
FR – None whatsoever, that was just a rumor that got spread. I asked Manny about that, and he just looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about (laughs). This is just training camp as usually, only it over here instead of Los Angeles.
BC – How are you being treated by the Filippinos over there?I am guessing very well.
FR – They are treating me great, as they usually do. When I come here, I don't want to go home. I went to the movies by myself the other day, and I got swarmed by the fans over here. They are very nice and kind people over here, it's a great feeling.
BC – Closing thoughts for the fans, Freddie?
FR- To the fans, you will see the best Manny Pacquiao yet. We will come into this fight in the best shape so far, and we won't let you down.
AA
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