MANILA, Philippines - Freddie Roach likes Baguio as training ground for Manny Pacquiao.
The reason is simple. There are just far fewer distractions up in the City of Pines.
“Not so many distractions, and there are too many in Manila,” said the four-time Trainer of the Year, who’s flying in next week to supervise Pacquiao’s training for the Nov. 13 fight with Antonio Margarito in Texas.
Roach had seen the difference when Pacquiao trained in Manila, for the Oscar Larios fight a couple of years back, or in Cebu, for the Marco Antonio Barrera rematch in 2007, and Baguio for Miguel Cotto last year.
Pacquiao prefers to train in Metro Manila so he could continue to perform his duties as a congressman. The problem is that they can’t seem to find an uphill terrain for his morning runs.
And besides, House Speaker Sonny Belmonte had already said that Pacquiao should be excused from his duties as a lawmaker as he trains “because he’s doing the country a favor” as a fighter.
It looks like it’s going to be Baguio for the training that starts on Sept. 20.
“There are too many people wanting to get in when Manny trains in Manila. So, we’re working on in (Baguio) right now,” said Roach, who’ll be bringing in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and “another guy” as Pacquiao’s sparring partners.
Alex Ariza, the strength and conditioning coach from Colombia, will arrive with Pacquiao today when the boxing superstar returns from a press tour that brought him and Margarito to Los Angeles, New York and Dallas in five days.
“I like Baguio because of its high altitude,” said Roach, without mentioning that the country’s summer capital has a very nice weather, not chilly but a lot colder than Manila’s.
While in Baguio, Roach gets to stay in a very nice, quiet cabin surrounded by pine trees. Even Bob Arum liked Baguio where he was mobbed and treated by locals like he was a presidential candidate.
Told that it’s quite rainy up in Baguio at this time of the year, Roach brushed it aside.
“We’re not going out in the rain. We’re gonna be fine. We’ll be okay,” he said of the city rich in vegetables and fresh strawberries.
For the Cotto fight, Pacquiao trained a couple of weeks in Baguio, in a gym hidden inside a decent hotel, before flying to Los Angeles just a couple of weeks before the fight.
A couple of powerful typhoons hit the Philippines as Pacquiao warmed it up in Baguio, and at one point he had to stay inside the hotel because it was impossible for him to do the road work, and was forced to try on swimming.
One Sunday, in the middle of the camp, Pacquiao braved the storm, taking what looked like a dangerous 200 km road trip to Manila, to personally distribute relief goods to the countless victims of typhoon “Ondoy.”
“We’ll be fine in Baguio,” Roach assured.
But that’s if he gets what he wants.
Source: http://www.philstar.com
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