Sparmate says Pacquiao has sting in his punch

Ranged against a taller opponent in the mold of Oscar de la Hoya, Manny Pacquiao didn’t take too much time to adjust and deliver the message.

“He is too fast and very strong. I felt those body shots,” said super welterweight Rashad Holloway.

The 5-10 Holloway is the first of six boxers tapped by Freddie Roach to spar with the Filipino icon, who stepped up his buildup for the Dec. 6 showdown with De la Hoya with his first sparring session Tuesday at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles.

It didn’t take long before they mixed it up with Pacquiao moving in and tagging his opponent on the head and face then moving out to avoid Holloway’s counter punches, according to Philboxing.com.

Pacquiao fended off some shots with his gloves and took those, including the power shots, that Holloway managed to sneak in lightly.

Although they may not be as strong as those expected to be delivered by De la Hoya, it appeared that Pacquiao has the capacity to take and absorb blows from the 10-time champion, tipped as the favorite in the mega-buck fight.

“I am happy with what Manny showed today, even if it’s only the first day,” said Filipino trainer and buddy Buboy Fernandez.

Meanwhile, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has predicted that De la Hoya will brutally knock out Pacquiao in their keenly awaited duel and said setting up a fight with Ricky Hatton at Wembley Stadium afterwards would be a dream.

The Golden Boy goes into the bout as a favorite with the bookmakers and his promotional company’s chief executive expect his superior size to be the big difference between the two men.

De la Hoya has previously stated that 2008 would be his last year in boxing but has since reneged on this declaration and Schaefer expects him to have two more fights – and hopes one of them is in England.

“Oscar’s going to see how he feels after this fight,” Schaefer told setantasports.com. “Assuming everything goes well and he feels good then I think he is going to have maybe one or two fights.”