Manny Pacquiao plunged back into training in Baguio City yesterday while Mexican trainer Nacho Beristain, who was thousands of miles away, bared his thoughts on how the Filipino pound-for-pound champion would hit Miguel Cotto "like a rocket" on Nov. 14.
Pacquiao entered his third week of training in the country’s summer capital, which was pummelled by typhoon "Pepeng" over the weekend, by doing 15 rounds of mitts with Freddie Roach and some plyometric exercises with his conditioning coach, Alex Ariza.
Pacquiao broke camp Saturday evening after sparring five rounds with Shawn Porter and Urbano Antillon. He braved the storm to take a 250-km ride to Manila and personally help distribute relief goods to victims of last week’s tropical storm "Ondoy" the other day.
Pacquiao and his entourage were back in Baguio close to midnight of Sunday. It took them longer than usual to get there because, according to one of his bodyguards, Jojo Sta. Teresa, there was "zero visibility" on the zig-zagging, cliff-hanging roads up to Baguio.
At the Shape Up Gym, it was business as usual yesterday it looked like the mitts on Roach’s hands were ready to explode.
Pacquiao resumes his sparring today with Porter and Antillon. Another sparringmate, former WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo, is scheduled to fly in today to provide the extra muscle in the Pinoy icon’s camp six weeks heading to the fight on Nov. 14.
