Road to Marquez: Baguio Training Day 12

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By Keith Terceira,

“Manny Knows Speed” is displayed on some of the shirts that Pacquiao wears while training and today that was the focus in camp. Manny got up at 6am and traveled to Burnham Park, we he wanted to have and easy day at the track, but when numerous people started to jog around him he decided to see who could keep up.

Pacquiao quickened his pace; sure enough the runners that thought they could contend with the champ fell off one by one.

Alex Ariza informed MP8;

“Manny got his heart rate up to 160 today, but did his fastest pace to date. Manny ran about a 6:30 mile for about 2 miles.

” Manny then showed off for the crowd, giving them a display of his speed by with a shadowboxing performance as the crowd grew larger and larger.

The afternoon workout was all business and not performing as he was going toe to toe with Linares. Even though Manny Pacquiao is the far superior fighter, it is Linares that is 100% ready to fight .  Linares is less than 2 weeks out for his battle in Los Angeles at the Staple center and his conditioning is evident as today he matched Pacquiao’s speed punch for punch.

Matching the speed of one of the fastest punchers in the sport today is no easy feat. This was a spectacle for all to see and it was a larger crowd in the Shape Up Gym than normal due to the fact they were shooting a Nike photo shoot.

Linares and Pacquiao displayed championship skills to all and Alex Ariza stated;

“Manny looked spectacular. Quick, sharp, and fast!  Really he is too good to be this far out.”

Jorge Linares responded to questioning about the sparring by stating

“Manny’s timing is the best in the business and he is very heavy handed.”

Linares has benefitted greatly in this camp both from the training and the sparring. When comparing the video of Linares working the double-end bag that is posted on MP8 and older YouTube video’s, the improvement is evident.

I’m not giving Pacquiao all the credit for the improvement, don’t get me wrong, but it appears that training with the Pacquiao team is a good compliment to the dedication that Jorge is obviously putting in at the gym.

“El Nino de Oro” is setting the stage to become the WBC lightweight title holder, training in serious a fashion. Antonio DeMarco, on October 15th, in the LA Staples Center has got to be concerned that the speed improvement in Linares will mutate to increased power.

Both Linares and DeMarco have some serious skills and pop, so I suggest you don’t miss this affair.

After sparring was completed Manny followed with another six rounds of mitts and shadow boxing. Then went outside the gym to where the Nike photo shoot was waiting. He was in a great mood, spending about 30 minutes doing photos for Nike, then up to his hotel room to rest and eat.

After an hour and a half of resting, he put on his basketball shoes and played an hour of basketball.

Ciao!