ESPN Goes Inside Pacquaio’s Training Camp

Peter Owen Nelson reports at ESPN’s boxing blog:

“In Baguio City, Philippines, MANNY PACQUIAO enters the Shape Up Boxing Gym to find himself in a house of mirrors. Every T-shirt is emblazoned with his face, every pair of shorts etched with his initials, every spectator’s tongue poised to speak his name as he marches in and they whisper to themselves, “MANNY PACQUIAO,” as if in utter shock to see the man here — of all places — in a boxing gym.

“It is here that Pacquiao, 31, is preparing for his Nov. 13 showdown in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium for the WBC super welterweight title against Antonio Margarito (38-6), who will be the tallest and heaviest opponent the seven-division champion has ever faced. Pacquiao’s regimen for the fight is no less strenuous than his previous 56 bouts: In a single day he ingests 7,000 calories over six meals; strategizes over 14 rounds of mitt work with trainer Freddie Roach; crunches out a few hundred sit-ups; and then, for a nightcap, plays several games of full-court basketball.

“Before each training session, Pacquiao (51-3-2) grins as he steps into the elevated ring, contemplating what form of mental torture he’ll enact on strength coach Alex Ariza, the overseer of Pacquiao’s physically torturous isometric drills and daybreak sprints. As Ariza assists the fighter with his stretching, Pacquiao looks at him and pretends to cry: ‘My mommy! My mommy!’ Ariza grinds his teeth.

“Perhaps the trainer should have gotten the tattoo.

“On Sept. 27, their first day of training in Baguio, Pacquiao asked Ariza to get a tattoo of a meteor on his left forearm. As Ariza declined the request, he said, ‘My mom would kill me.’ Stretching has begun with Pacquiao’s taunts ever since.”

Read the full article HERE.