MANILA, Philippines – Acclaimed trainer Freddie Roach admitted that boxer-congressman Manny Pacquiao is not yet in tip-top shape, two weeks after they kicked off their Baguio City training camp.
“The direction I want him to move is a little better. The stuff we were doing yesterday came through today. He’s not 100 percent; we still have a long way to go,” Roach told Ted Lerner of Ring Magazine.
But he commended his prized fighter, saying that his timing was a little better.
“We’re just beginning to get the game plan down and get the timing and so forth. He did what I wanted him to do a couple of times. It’s a work in progress,” he added.
The four-time Trainer of the Year also mentioned that it is normal for Pacquiao not to be in superb form at this point.
“If that Manny Pacquiao went into a fight, we’d probably lose. But that’s why we have an eight-week training camp, so we can improve. You can’t expect too much out of a guy who hasn’t been in the ring since last March,” noted Roach.
Pacquiao defeated Ghanaian Joshua Clottey last March 13 by unanimous decision at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas
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He will return to the $1.2-billion stadium on November 13 for his World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight title clash against Mexican Antonio Margarito. The WBC title at stake is vacant.
Pacquiao, a Fighter of the Decade and three-time Fighter of the Year, has 51 wins (with 38 knockouts), 3 losses and 2 draws.
Three-time world champion Margarito has 38 wins (with 27 knockouts), 6 losses and 1 no contest. – With a report from Ring Magazine
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