by James Slater: Back in March, when Filipino dynamo Manny Pacquiao wrested the WBC super-featherweight championship from Juan Manuel Marquez “Pac-Man” entered the ring weighing a hefty 146 pounds. Putting on sixteen pounds between the official weigh-in and the first bell was just too much, according to Manny’s trainer, Freddie Roach. In a recent article in The Philippine Daily Enquirer, Roach said things will be different in the lead up to Pacquiao’s WBC lightweight title challenge of David Diaz – a fight set for June the 28th in Las Vegas..
“I like when guys put weight on between the weigh-in and fight night, but there’s a fine line between gaining enough weight and gaining too much,” Roach said. “I’m a firm believer you should never put on more than ten pounds. For Manny to gain sixteen pounds in a 24-hour period is a lot of weight. I’m not saying I’m going to starve Manny, but I’m going to monitor that a lot more closely for this fight with Diaz.”
It remains to be seen how effective and fast “Pac-Man” will be up at 145 pounds, but at least he will make the weight the correct way this time, what with Freddie’s watchful eye. This should have been the way of it previously, but Manny got away with coming into a fight somewhat slowed due to quickly added weight.
Roach went on to say what he thinks of David Diaz as a fighter.
“He is durable and has a good chin,” Freddie continued. “The thing is we can outbox this guy and be smart about it. I don’t want to take away Manny’s explosiveness but we’ll be a little more technical in this fight.”
The bout should be an extremely watch able and fan-friendly affair. Indeed, few of Pacquiao’s fights are anything but. When focused, perfectly conditioned and lean and mean, Manny Pacquiao is quite simply one of the very best fighters in the entire sport. Look for him to put on a performance that reminds us of that come June 28th – if it needed reminding, that is. The only slight concern is the fact that “Pac-Man” will be having his first fight at a new weight. Roach does not see a problem, however.
“I think he’ll bring his punching power up with him [to lightweight] and that his speed will still remain the same,” Roach concluded.