Pacquiao wants more speed and power -- ABS-CBN News

abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao’s sparring partners have noticed improvements in his overall performance. The Filipino champ, however, wants to improve further.

During Tuesday’s sparring session at the Shape Up Gym in Baguio City, Pacquiao showed his training partners that indeed he can handle taller fighters.

“It was good, man. Everybody was talking about it and when he comes out in a fight, he’s gonna be good,” said American Glen Tapia, one of Pacquiao’s sparring mates.

Testament to Tapia's statement was the busted lip he got from Pacquiao, who is set to trade punches with Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito of Mexico on November 13.

Even World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion Amir Khan, who also sparred with Pacquiao, believes the Filipino champ has the right tools to dismantle the 5’11” Margarito.

“The angles… he hits from angles, you know, his speed, his technique and having [coach] Freddie Roach in the corner is a big help,” said Khan.

The Filipino’s esteemed trainer also attested to Pacquiao’s improvement.

“Manny Pacquiao is coming back,” said Roach.

Pacquiao, the reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion, has worked on regaining his speed after becoming sluggish with the added weight.

The 7-division champion has cut his weight down to 148 pounds and is again becoming the same boxing terror of the past. The Filipino boxer reportedly went above 150 pounds before deciding to shed the added weight.

Pacquiao said he plans to make more improvements as his fight date with the Mexican champ approaches.

He also denied reports that he has lost focus in training due to commitments outside boxing.

“Sa focus nandiyan tayo sa focus. Pero ang tina-target ko talaga, konti na lang, konti na lang… ‘yong sinasabi kong more speed and power (When it comes to focus, I’ve always been focused. But now my targets are, and I’m getting very near them, is getting more speed and power),” said Pacquiao. – With a report from Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Glen Tapia's details his sparring sessions with Manny Pacquiao -- North Jersey

North Jersey

EDITOR’S NOTE: Glen Tapia, an unbeaten junior middleweight prospect from Passaic, will detail his experiences each Wednesday while serving as Manny Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner in preparation for Pacquiao’s Nov. 13 fight against Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium.

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — I did four rounds with Manny [on Tuesday]. It was good sparring.

When you spar Manny, it’s not like sparring a lefty or a righty. It’s like sparring both. He’s got a different style. He just throws punches and he turns you quickly.

And to fight somebody who’s so intense, it’s great working with him. To fight somebody who puts that pressure on you and keeps that intensity on you the whole time, you just have to stay calm. You have to stay normal and put some pressure on him.

When I have done well, it is me being me, just throwing punches the way I throw punches; hitting him with combinations. With my speed and power and just mixing it up with my foot movement, I put pressure on him and just keep up the intensity the whole time. You want to move on him while you’re throwing punches.

When Manny does well with me, it’s him doing the same things I do to him. Not only does he throw a lot of punches, he turns you and just works and works and works. You’ve got to be ready.

We’re going to spar again Thursday. It’s just been getting more intense with every match. I’ve been getting better and better, too, getting ready for my fight [Oct. 30 in Atlantic City].

It’s like a slugfest in there.

Source: northjersey.com

“The best experience of my life”: Glen Tapia speaks from within Camp Pacquiao -- Examiner

By Chris Robinson, Examiner.com

Just a few months ago Passaic, New Jersey’ Glen Tapia was relatively unknown to much of the boxing world. Despite sporting an early 7-0 record with 5 stoppages, the 20-year old junior middleweight prospect garnered local exposure from working with former champions Joshua Clottey, Kendall Holt and Paulie Malignaggi yet figured to be a while away from getting serious buzz on a national scale.

That all has changed in the past month, however, as Tapia has been in the news on a daily basis because of his involvement in seven division champion Manny Pacquiao’s camp in Baguio City in the Philippines. Pacquiao is currently preparing for a November 13th clash with Antonio Margarito that will take place at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas and Tapia was brought in as a chief sparring partner with hopes that he could emulate the Tijuana fighter’s pressing style and physical strength.

Tapia reached out to me early Sunday morning, which would have been late Sunday night his time, and spoke with much exuberance in his voice and appreciation of everything the last few weeks have meant to him. Learning curves in the sport of boxing are around every corner and it’s obvious that Tapia is soaking up the experience for everything it is worth.

Read below to see what the young fighter had to say about interacting with Manny Pacquiao, sparring the dynamic southpaw, learning from Freddie Roach, taking in a new world and much more…

The best experience…
“It’s been the best experience of my life. I got a warm welcoming from the people first of all. And Manny Pacquiao is a great person. I’m just here studying, studying, and studying. I’m just hoping I can one day be one of the greatest. I’m just studying him and Freddie to see what they do.”

Breaking the ice with Manny Pacquiao…
“The first time I met him it was in Manila. He just broke the ice when we talked and he was so cool. I don’t know what it was but he said something like ‘What, did you come here to beat me up?’ and I just started laughing. We started laughing with each other and we started talking and it was great. He just broke the ice from the start. I could just tell that he was a humble, cool guy. I wasn’t star struck or nothing it was just a great experience.”

Life in the Philippines…
“Everywhere I go is just different. I could go to the mall, I could go downtown, and it’s like everybody knows me. The funniest thing was when I was in McDonalds and I’m just sitting there and I was watching TV and I see myself on the screen. I was doing an interview and everybody started going crazy. Everybody is nice and everybody treats me good.”

From Manila to Baguio…
“The first few days were in Manila and we were in the New World Hotel over there. It was so hot and it wasn’t just hot, it was humid. And we’ve been over here in Baguio City for two weeks now. It’s good over here. A little cooler over here and it’s good for running when we go to the top of the mountains and it’s been good for that.”

Handling business…
“Me personally, he’s Manny Pacquiao and everything but I think about it like this; I’m there for business. I have to go in there and give him the best work and the hardest work. He’s a world champion but it’s not about going to the game, it’s about staying in the game. I feel like I’m supposed to give him the hardest work the whole time. I actually woke him up a little bit because I gave him hard, hard work and he was like ‘Wow’. The next time he came back and he really got me back.”

What people have been talking about…
“It’s not like sparring an average lefty. He’s not like a lefty or a righty. He moves to the left, he moves to the right. You aren’t fighting a lefty or a righty. He just gives you different angles every time. He’s never in front of me. He’s always pops and moves, all the time. He has some pop. It’s like crazy power but he has a lot of pop. It’s what people have been talking about. I felt power in there. It’s the second week of sparring and we have been going at it. We’ve been having slugfests.”

Locked down…
“It’s been cool. Freddie doesn’t’ complain about anything or say ‘Manny can do what he wants’. But when it comes to training he trains very hard. With the people, during the first week there were some people in there but when the sparring started they wouldn’t allow nobody in there. Now it has been more shut down. It’s been locked down.”

Learning from Freddie Roach…
“Freddie is cool. He’s really nice to me. How he trains and how I work out, he knows where my mind is at. He knows that I’m not just trying to be a world champion; I’m trying to be one of the best world champions. He likes training with me, hitting the pads with me and teaching me. He tells me that I learn quick so he has been teaching me every day. It’s crazy because he’s showing me things I haven’t seen before and it just opens me up. It’s a blessing to be here.”

The arrival of Amir Khan…
“He came two days ago. I talked to him when he came and yesterday too. I talked to him when he came in and he’s a cool guy. He’s trained like one time with us but I really didn’t’ train with him yet. He’s not here for sparring but he’s a cool guy.”

His next fight…
“I’m going to leave a little bit earlier. I’m going to leave the 21st to New Jersey. I’m going to be leaving a little bit earlier than everybody to get ready for my fight on October 30th. Hopefully I can get this guy out of here quick so they can put me on the show on the 13th and I can have a double header. Why not, ya know?”

Highlight of my life…
“This is always going to be a highlight of my life. Always. Even if I make it big, like Manny Pacquiao one day or even better. That is my goal and I’m not going to stop until I reach my goal. Even if I reach that goal this is still going to be one of the biggest highlights of my life. Because he gave me the opportunity to come over here and train with him and learn from him. He’s one of the greatest.”

Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at Trimond@aol.com

Source: examiner.com

Learning from greatness -- North Jersey

BY KEITH IDEC, NorthJersey.com

Glen Tapia plans to compete at boxing’s elite level one day.

Manny Pacquiao plans to teach him how to get there.

The undefeated Tapia, a fast-rising junior middleweight prospect from Passaic, has been hired as Pacquiao’s primary sparring partner for the Filipino superstar’s Nov. 13 fight against Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium. Tapia will leave today for Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., where they’ll train for several days until leaving late next week for Pacquiao’s training camp in the Philippines.

"I’m going to learn how one of the greatest world champions trains, how he fights, everything," Tapia, 20, said. "It’s a great opportunity for me."

North Arlington’s Carl Moretti helped establish the Pacquiao-Tapia partnership while discussing potential sparring partners with Roach, Pacquiao’s respected trainer, during a three-city U.S. media tour to promote the HBO Pay-Per-View fight last week.

"Freddie was looking to give Manny a different look in this training camp," said Moretti, vice president of boxing operations for Top Rank Inc., which promotes Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) and Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs, 1 NC). "He was looking for a young, aggressive kid to give Manny something to think about, so that it’s not the same old thing. Glen was the first kid that came to my mind. He’s built a little like Margarito. He’s right-handed, he throws a lot of punches and he’ll give it his all."

Tapia (7-0, 5 KOs) was supposed to meet Miami’s Edvan Barros (10-10-1, 7 KOs) in a six-round fight Saturday night in Las Vegas, but the fight was canceled two weeks ago. Tapia continued training at the Passaic PAL boxing gym, so he’ll head to Pacquiao’s homeland in good condition for at least five weeks of sparring.

Tapia expects Pacquiao’s training camp to be more challenging than the training camp he experienced with Ghana’s Joshua Clottey last year. Tapia was Clottey’s primary sparring partner for Clottey’s split-decision defeat to Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto 15 months ago at Madison Square Garden.

Pacquiao dominated Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs, 1 NC) in their welterweight title fight March 13 at Cowboys Stadium.

"Pacquiao’s going to throw way more punches than Clottey, and I throw a lot of punches," Tapia said. "So I think it’s going to be very explosive sparring. I’m very excited to see how the first sparring [session] goes. I’m not going to just stand there and take his punches. I’m going to go in there ready to go at it."

INVADING GERMANY: Samuel Peter is extremely thankful that Alexander Povetkin passed on a mandatory title shot and provided him with another shot at Wladimir Klitschko. He intends to prove it before 45,000 Klitschko-loving fans during their IBF/WBO heavyweight championship rematch Saturday in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Nigerian-born Peter (34-3, 27 KOs) knocked down Klitschko three times during their first fight, but Klitschko survived Peter’s power and won nine of the 12 rounds, 114-111, on all three scorecards nearly five years ago in Atlantic City. At least one of the knockdowns was questionable because Peter hit Klitschko behind the head.

The 6-foot-7, 245-pound Klitschko (54-3, 48 KOs) is now boxing’s most dominant heavyweight since Lennox Lewis retired 6 1/2 years ago.

"This time around, I’ve got my referee and my judge," Peter, 30, said. "My referee is my right hand and my judge is my left hook. So no question about it this time around. He will not get up from my hook."

Ukraine’s Klitschko, 34, hardly has lost any of the 73 rounds he has started in nine straight bouts he has won since Peter tested him at Boardwalk Hall. Klitschko’s safety-first style has frustrated American premium cable executives, however, to the point that they’ve stopped paying large license fees to televise his fights in the United States.

His rematch against Peter, his most dangerous fight since the first time they met, won’t be televised live in the United States. It will be available live at 5 p.m. on ESPN3.com, a subscription-based web site, and will be broadcast on ESPN on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

COMPLETELY COMMITTED: Peter’s shoddy conditioning has cost the former WBC champion in many of his title fights, but his new trainer believes he has learned from merely relying on his power to win fights.

"I think the dedication has been the big difference that I’ve seen in Sam," said Abel Sanchez, Peter’s trainer since May 2009. "I’ve been able to keep him in the gym six, sometimes seven days a week. … I think in the past he has allowed outside influences to contribute to his lack of dedication, his lack of commitment. The discipline, this time, has been there, for me, anyway."

Peter has knocked out each of the four opponents he has faced since Sanchez started training him, but none of them were world class-caliber heavyweights.

E-mail: idec@northjersey.com Blog: northjersey.com/ringposts

Source: northjersey.com