MANILA, Philippines – Eight division champion Manny Pacquiao is definitely not taking Shane Mosley lightly.
Proof of that is the number of sparring rounds he plans to go through while preparing for the Mosley fight on May 7.
“Three times a week kami nag-sparring,” Pacquiao told abs-cbnNEWS.com. “Tapos pahaba ng pahaba [ang rounds] hanggang maka 140 rounds kami ng sparring.”
(We spar three times a week. The rounds get longer and longer until we log a total of 140 rounds of sparring).
Pacquiao already sparred with boxers Shawn Porter and David Rodela in Baguio City.
He said he will spar with several more boxers at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
“Marami pa sa akin doon na naghihintay [na sparring partners] (There are more sparring partners waiting for me there),” said Pacquiao.
In his fight against Antonio Margarito last November, Pacquiao reportedly logged only 110 sparring rounds.
As a result, there were instances in that fight when the Filipino champion got tired in front of the Mexican giant.
Pacquiao won that bout with a lopsided decision.
He, however, said he wanted to be perfect against the 39-year-old Mosley.
“This time hindi ako nagbibigay kahit isang porsyento ng kumpiyansa sa kalaban ko (This time, I won’t underestimate my opponent, not even 1 percent),” said Pacquiao.
“Kelangan paghandaan ng mabuti ang laban namin ni Mosley, hindi siya easy opponent. ****ling siya na boksingero at malakas (I need to fully prepare for my fight against Mosley. He is a very good and strong boxer),” he added.
Despite his age, Mosley has a wealth of boxing experience.
He spent years as a boxing amateur before becoming a multi-titled world champion in 3 weight classes.
He also holds the distinction of being the only boxer who halted granite-chinned Margarito. – With a report from Reyma Deveza, abs-cbnNEWS.com
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