While there are plenty of critics out there who say nobody will be able to help 46 year old Manny Pacquiao in his upcoming fight with the much younger Mario Barrios, the fact that Pacquiao has reunited with long-time trainer Freddie Roach has to be looked at as a good thing, and possibly something that will aid Manny’s chances of winning the WBC welterweight title on July 19.
Roach – who was recently honoured, with his Wild Card gym celebrating 30 long years of excellence; a Hollywood mall named ‘Freddie Roach Square’ – had so many great nights with Pacquiao, and the Hall of Fame trainer will be aiming to guide Manny to one more victory.
Pacquiao began training with Roach, and Buboy Fernadez, this week at Wild Card, and reports say the southpaw dynamo is looking fast and sharp at this early stage in camp. Roach can be relied upon to tell Pac-Man the truth, with Freddie being honest enough to tell Manny if he no longer has it. There is of course still time for Pacquiao to pull out of the fight, although this does seem very unlikely.
“He’s still sharp” – Camp Wild Card opens with full assessment
Fernandez told ABS-CBN that Pacquiao underwent a “full-scale skills and fitness assessment” at Wild Card yesterday, with Manny coming through with flying colours.
“He’s not just in shape – he’s still sharp,” Fernandez said. “Today was about seeing where we’re starting from. And frankly, we’re not far off. This baseline is just the beginning. We’ll adjust the program depending on Manny’s direction.”
Pacquiao and Roach worked the pads in the ring, with Manny also hitting the heavy bag and shadow boxing. Looks can of course be deceiving, but judging by the footage that has been released Pacquiao does look to be in great shape, and he’s clearly still fast, especially for a man of 46.
Will Roach’s presence actually matter this time?
However, Pacquiao looked good when working with Roach in the lead-up to his last fight, this his August 2021 points loss to Yordenis Ugas. Barrios may not be as tricky a boxer as Ugas was, and maybe the style Ugas had affected Manny’s performance that night. Still, the old adage says you’re only as good as your last fight in boxing, and in his last fight, Pacquiao did not look good. Even Freddie Roach was unable to help him too much.
It is a positive sign that Roach has agreed to come on board and train Pacquiao for his latest comeback, though. Because, again, if Freddie didn’t feel Manny could do it, he surely wouldn’t have agreed to work with him. Let’s see if the ageing fighter and the wise old trainer stay together for the full duration of training camp.