Typhoon may force Pacquiao to flee Baguio

source: Nick Gionco | mb.com.ph

American trainer Freddie Roach reported from Baguio City that boxing idol Manny Pacquiao is about 75 percent ready for his Nov. 14 showdown with Miguel Cotto after completing a third of his required 160 sparring rounds.

“No worries as far as his conditioning is concerned,” said Roach as he was awaiting word if they will uproot their training camp later in the day in anticipation of heavy rains and howling winds with the arrival of a new typhoon in Northern Luzon.


“We just can’t jeopardize Manny’s training so we might just go down to Manila and resume training there,” said Roach, who will fly to Los Angeles this Saturday for the most crucial stage of preparation beginning next Monday (Oct. 26) at the Wild Card in Hollywood.

Pacquiao had initially wanted to train in Baguio right until the day he was scheduled to leave for the US and then made a slight alteration when his handlers disclosed that they will instead leave for Manila on Thursday afternoon.

But owing to the devastation that the new storm is threatening to leave, Pacquiao is seriously considering an early departure for Manila so it would much easier for them to go to the airport.

If indeed Team Pacquiao heads for Manila way ahead of schedule, Roach said the ultra-important sparring sessions would resume Tuesday with three rounds each against Shawn Porter, Jose Luis Castillo and possibly against either Urbano Antillon or Danny Escobar.

“On Tuesday, it’ll be nine rounds total and nine again on Thursday and 10 rounds on Saturday before we leave for the US,” said Roach, who has been camping out in Baguio since Sept. 21 presiding over Pacquiao’s preparation with the help of conditioning coach Alex Ariza.

Pacquiao will train at the Wild Card from Oct. 26 until Nov. 9, the day Team Pacquiao will roll on to Sin City.

Meanwhile, Kenny Bayless has been appointed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to referee the Pacquiao-Cotto 12-round welterweight title match. Also picked to score the fight are Duane Ford, Dave Moretti and Adalaide Byrd. All are from Nevada.