Manny Pacquiao appears to be already in fighting form roughly six weeks to go before his showdown with Brandon Rios on Nov. 24 at Venetian Macao in Macau, China.
According to Philippine Inquirer, Pacquiao turned undefeated welterweight Fredrick Lawson into his own punching bag as Pacman's speed and agility proved too much for the Ghanian fighter.
The 34-year-old Pacman logged in two rounds of sparring with middleweight contender Marlon Alta before taking on Lawson for the next two rounds. Nonoy Neri, who served as one of Pacman's trainers along with Boboy Fernandez for the first four weeks of training camp, believed Lawson (21 wins, 19 KOs) was simply caught unprepared of the onslaught coming from Pacquiao.
"He (Lawson) doesn't know what to do when Manny rained punches on him," Neri told Philippine Inquirer.
Pacman's training camp is expected to enter its crucial stage in the coming weeks with conditioning coach Justin Fortune set to arrive in General Santos City on Tuesday. Fortune and Pacquiao decided to join forces again following the firing of strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza, who is now working with Rios' camp.
Meanwhile, head trainer Freddie Roach is scheduled to travel to the Philippines right after Miguel Cotto's showdown with Delvin Rodriguez on Saturday. Roach along with two more sparring partners will give Pacquiao the kind of training the former champion needs before he goes toe-to-toe with Rios.
Despite the absence of Roach, Pacquiao is facing a good deal of pressure from his sparring partners, who could get reward money if they successfully knock down the Filipino champ.
Mike Koncz, who is Pacquiao's long-time adviser, said a bounty of $1,500 is at stake if either of Alta and Lawson is able to drop Pacman in their sparring session. Roach also employed the same bounty system in Pacquiao's previous training camp, but so far no sparmate has been able to shock the former pound-for-pound king in sparring.
Pacquiao, who's coming off a devastating sixth round TKO loss at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez, badly needs a victory against Rios to keep his boxing career alive. A loss to Rios would mean the end of Pacman's era while a win - especially a knockout - will put the Filipino fighter back in the upper echelon of pound-for-pound fighters.
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