Pacquiao takes breather; Larios here today

Manny Pacquiao sweated it out at the gym yesterday morning then quietly flew to Gen. Santos City in the afternoon for one full day of rest exactly a week before he takes on Mexico’s Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum.

Pacquiao boarded a private jet, a seven-seater owned by network sponsor ABS-CBN, past 3 p.m. He was joined in the two-hour trip by his American bodyguard Rob Peters, sportscaster Dyan Castillejo and an ABS-CBN cameraman.

Head trainer Freddie Roach was supposed to join but begged off at the last minute. Pacquiao will be back in Manila this afternoon and is expected to go straight to Manila Hotel where he and Roach are staying for the fight.

While Pacquiao gets a chance to visit his pregnant wife Jinkee and two sons, Michael and Jimwell, whom he hadn’t seen for more than a month, Larios flies in from Japan where he underwent training for close to four weeks.

Larios is expected to arrive at 1 p.m. and will be brought to the Discovery Suites in Ortigas. His promoter, Rafael Mendoza, came in a few days ago as he had to decide where the former world champion would train heading into the fight.

"Oscar has trained so hard at the Teiken Gym in Tokyo. We don’t worry about the odds. We would rather continue preparing for the July 2 fight," said Mendoza of the great odds going in favor of the Filipino knockout artist.

Flying in with Larios are Eric Gomez, a representative of Golden Boy Promotions; Jose Reynoso, manager; Edison Reynoso, chief trainer, Teodoro Larios, the boxer’s father; and Miguel Diaz, a team official.

Roach had granted Pacquiao the day-off as early as Wednesday, but it was only last Friday that Pacquiao decided to spend it with his family. He said he plans to go to church this morning and stay home until after lunch.

As scheduled, Pacquiao went for a 5-mile run at the first sign of light and was back at his suite by 6 a.m. for breakfast. He went back to bed shortly after, getting up at around 9:30 before heading to the gym.

Pacquiao is staying at the Aguinaldo Suite of the Manila Hotel and is being treated like Royalty, complete with signing privileges at the coffee shop where he normally takes his meals since coming in last Tuesday.

Pacquiao’s two-bedroom suite costs $1,500 or close to P80,000 a night. In his spacious, carpeted room is a king-size bed, a large TV monitor, fax machine, a coffee table with a basket of fruits and Pacquiao’s personal laptop.

"Dont worry, my Daddy (a friend from Manila) will take care of the bills," said Pacquiao.

The Filipino boxing champ spent five rounds on the ring, pounding the mitts with Roach. He did not spar but went through all the other exercises typical of his daily regimen.

The days leading to the fight will get lighter and lighter for Pacquiao. His last day at the gym will probably be on Thursday, the day the final press conference will be staged at the Discovery Suites.

For the third time, Pacquiao and Larios will come face to face when they hold a public workout at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Big Dome. The official weigh-in is set Saturday morning also at Discovery Suites.