Pacquiao clobbers three new sparmates

Manny Pacquiao, looking sharp and deadly as ever, stepped up his buildup for his mega-buck fight with Mexican Erik Morales next month, sparring for 10 rounds Saturday and taking in three new sparring partners before a big weekend crowd at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.

Pacquiao gave the predominantly Filipino crowd something to cheer about as he clowned around with big man James "Lights Out" Toney and made his sparring partners look like stuntmen who took beatings from the lead actor.

While Tijuana native Erik Morales continued to train in secrecy in the mountains of Mexico City for March 19 superfight in Las Vegas, Pacquiao made no secret about his preparation with still five weeks left.

Pacquiao was once again in a zone, doing the same damage to Raymundo Beltran in the first four rounds, halting action after releasing a torrent of punches that threw his Mexican opponent out of the top rope even as he allowed himself to take punishment.

For another four rounds Pacquiao stepped up the tempo against Ugandan Justin Juuko, showing no signs of fatigue as he continued to put pressure while taking instructions from Freddie Roach and Buboy Fernandez.

"Are you alright?" asked Pacquiao, after a thunderous left landed to end round seven, even as Toney asked Juuko to give his all.

Juuko, who has a 39-8-1 win-loss-draw record, is no patsy, having faced big-name fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Carlos "Famoso" Hernandez and Diego Corrales in the past but still, the Pacman gobbled everything in his path.

Pacquiao even allowed Juuko to deliver 12 free punches to the body with gusto in the eighth round even as he finished his session with a solid body counter-punch that merited oohs and aahs.

In his last two rounds with speedster and bantam Jorge Diaz, Pacquiao showed staying power and stamina by chasing his Mexican opponent around, firing a left and right simutaneously to the ear, once again earning smiles and laughter from the crowd.

"I feel good and everything is under control. I know Erik Morales will come in prepared that is why I am training hard for this fight," said Pacquiao, who has now logged in 54 rounds of sparring.