Freddie Roach will make sure Manny Pacquiao does not go beyond the number of sparring rounds needed in his preparation for the Oscar dela Hoya fight on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
Roach, who’s been in Pacquiao’s corner for almost seven years now, said while the training for the Dela Hoya fight will be the longest for the Pinoy pug, they just wouldn’t overdo things.
Pacquiao normally does 140 to 150 rounds of sparring as he prepares for a fight and has even gone a little over that for big fights against Erik Morales or Juan Manuel Marquez.
Roach said sparring should begin on Oct. 6, starting off with four rounds and going up to six, eight, 10 and 12 before they start tapering off and lowering the number of rounds.
Pacquiao spars on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On these days, he runs on a flat course. He goes uphill at the Griffith Park in Los Angeles on days that he won’t spar.
Roach said it’s for him and Pacquiao to decide on the number of sparring rounds.
“First, I don’t count. The others do the counting. The number of rounds depends on Manny’s condition. But that’s a ballpark figure (140 to 150 rounds),” he said over the phone.
“The problem with Manny is he always asks for more. I had to hold him back most of the time. I don’t want him to get bored. I want him to feel a little hungry for the rounds.”
Tickets to the fight, which is still 71 days away, have been sold out.
Since Pacquiao is fighting Dela Hoya at 147 pounds, his heaviest weight limit so far, Roach has enlisted the services of bigger, taller and heavier fighters that can simulate the style of the opponent.
Pacquiao will soon resume conditioning workouts at the Wild Card Gym after a very brief visit to Manila, and according to training assistant Nonoy Neri is down to less than 150 pounds.
Being tapped to spar with Pacquiao are super-welterweights Yuri Foreman (5’11”, 25-0 8 KOs) and Arron Robinson (5’10”, 6-2-0 4 KOs) and welterweight Rashad Holloway (5’11”, 9-1-0 5 KOs).
“They have all powerful left hooks,” Roach said in a recent article that came out in the Internet.