Politics getting in way of Pacman’s training

At the rate things are going, it seems that Manny Pacquiao will have just around six weeks to train for his scheduled fight against Mexican Jorge Solis on April 21 in San Antonio, Texas.

Pacquiao, who hasn’t fought since beating Erik Morales in Las Vegas last November, is so preoccupied with so many things right now that his training has taken the backseat.

Pacquiao is seriously considering running in the May 14 elections, either as mayor or congressman in his native Gen. Santos City. But he has yet to file his certificate of candidacy with the Comelec.

Pacquiao has been shuttling to and from Manila and Gen. Santos City over the last couple of weeks. He is expected at the Capital City today for a derby in Makati later in the night.

In between his tight schedule are business meetings and negotiations regarding his political plans. A few nights ago, he was with Malacañang Chief of Staff Michael Defensor in Manila.

Pacquiao said he plans to fly to Los Angeles later this month or early next month to begin his training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood under Freddie Roach.

His next fight, set at the Alamodome where he crushed Marco Antonio Barrera in November of 2003, could be the first of only two fights this year.

Solis is an undefeated 27-year-old from Guadalajara, and is ranked second by the World Boxing Council in the 126-lb featherweight division.

While eight weeks would be the ideal length of training, Pacquiao could set himself up for Solis inside six, the same length he spent gearing up for Oscar Larios last July.

Pacquiao was originally scheduled to face Korean Injin Chi in Macau on April 28, but the plan was scrapped for probably October because of various reasons.

Top Rank big boss and Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum said the unavailability of enough hotel rooms in Macau for the pay-per-view fight, and the boxer’s political plans were considered.

So, instead of April 28, Pacquiao’s next fight was pushed a week earlier. But his training, again, has taken the backseat against other pressing matters.