MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao’s training camp for the May 2 super fight continues to heat up as the Filipino superstar bloodied one of his training partners during sparring on Wednesday.
Welterweight prospect Kenneth Sims, Jr., an 8-time US national champion, ended up bleeding from his nose while trading shots with Pacquiao for four rounds.
Buboy Fernandez told Philboxing’s Aquiles Zonio that Pacquiao drew blood when he drove a left straight to the nose of the burly Sims.
“I just forgot the exact round and time when our fighting congressman smashed the nose of his sparring partner with his whopping left straight. Blood started flowing from his nose,” Fernandez said.
Before squaring off with Sims, Pacquiao also had four rounds of sparring with Keandre Gibson.
Fernandez said the boxers are ideal sparring partners for the Filipino champion because they could simulate Mayweather’s movements inside the ring. Since they are relatively young boxers, they were able to test Pacquiao with their quick and fresher legs.
“They were young, fast and strong and they have the ability to mimic Mayweather’s fighting style,” Fernandez said.
Meanwhile, the eight-division champion has already left his jogging chores at the Griffith Park and started working on improving his speed, power and footwork.
His conditioning coach Justin Fortune said Pacquiao is already done with the conditioning work so they moved on to other work out routines.
“Manny Pacquiao has no problem when it comes to stamina. He can last up to 15 to 20 rounds. So, the Griffith thing is no longer useful. We would like to focus more on further improving his speed and strength,” Fortune said.
Fortune had Pacquiao run around the rubberized track of the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Sports Stadium eight times before moving to the bleachers for his leg workout. The Filipino champion also did some sprints going up to the bleachers.
“You see how strong especially his legs are? I want you to report on this so Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will know how fast and strong our fighter is,” Fortune said.
Source: ABS-CBNnews.com
