MANNY PACQUIAO made a point that he would be on time for his public workout, and he was. It’s just that within the few moments it took him to throw a cluster of punches at Freddie Roach’s pads, he wrapped up the training session and was off.
He did arrive promptly at the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles and spoke to the media assembled there, all the while viewers eagerly anticipated seeing some hints of what his training camp has been like and what Manny can do in the ring.
He chose to reveal nothing.
Perhaps that is telling sign as to the degree of caution and privacy which is being exercised in the Pacquiao camp. But it is a disappointment. Yesterday there may have been a long wait to see Floyd Mayweather’s workout but he did take some considerable time to work the pads, the bag and so on. Tonight Freddie Roach moved Pacquiao round the ring with a smile on his face. Manny stuck a few sterner lefts into his trainer’s body belt, tapped at the mitts and then, after a matter of mere minutes, it was over.
Even though were no clues in the ring on the day, Freddie did say to the cameras beforehand, “The hand speed, the foot speed, I don’t think Mayweather can really handle that. It’s easy to watch it on TV and say yes he’s fast. But when you’re in the ring with him and he’s moving like that, it’s really, really hard to know when he’s coming or not coming. I think Mayweather’s going to have a lot of problems with that but we do have to fight the perfect fight to win.”
For the time being though both fighters are keeping their cards close to their chests. But all, we trust, will be revealed when they fight on May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
