Soon after participating in a conference call from Los Angeles with boxing writers Wednesday at noon, Manny Pacquiao went back to his condo and fell asleep.
The six-division world champion — who will be shooting for a title in a record seventh weight class (welterweight) when he fights Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas — slept the entire afternoon and into the evening, missing a workout at Wild Card gym.
Jet lag, his publicist Fred Sternburg cited, from his flight from his native Philippines, where Pacquiao battled deadly typhoons, torrential rains and needy politicians and did humanitarian work in five weeks of training for the Cotto fight.
Jet lag can affect anyone, but there's little doubt that Pacquiao's four weeks in Baguio and five days in Manila took its toll on the fighter. His longtime trainer, Freddie Roach, says it was one of Pacquiao's best camps despite the distractions.
"We had four really good weeks in Baguio," Roach said. "We had a couple typhoons that came, but we didn't miss a beat, we had great sparring. Last week in Manila was a little tense because of lots of distractions, so we had to break camp a little early."
Roach said the biggest task in the Philippines was keeping people away from a man they idolize.
"We asked people to stay away; we closed the gym; there was no problem at all (in Baguio), no politicians bothering him," Roach said. "The weather messed with us a little, but we ran in the rain, went in the pool, ran inside sometimes ... no distractions. The last week in Manila was tough, because a lot of politicians were trying to make meetings with Manny and everyone was trying to pull him in a different direction."
Pacquiao was back sparring Thursday afternoon as Los Angeles Lakers star Ron Artest looked on. "He's back on track; he's very close to being ready for the fight," Roach said.
(Source: USA Today)
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