MANILA, Philippines — Super WBA welterweight champion Sen. Manny Pacquiao said the other day he expects a “hard” fight against WBC/IBF ruler Errol Spence Jr. when they square off in a scheduled 12-round unification showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Aug. 21 and while declining to make a prediction of the outcome, promised an action-packed duel.
Pacquiao admitted being “a little behind” in his training schedule but “not by much” as he is set to head for camp in General Santos City tomorrow. While formal camp is yet to open, Pacquiao has stayed in shape doing roadwork, hitting the gym and playing basketball so it’s not as if his conditioning will start from scratch. Long-time hands Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri will watch over his workouts then the Pacquiao team packs up to leave for Los Angeles in the first week of July to hook up with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym. A media tour to promote the fight in key US cities may be held after Pacquiao arrives in LA.
In training, Pacquiao said his priority is to build up stamina as the fight against Spence may be a war of attrition. His other goals are to strengthen his upper body, raise his level of power and drop a few pounds to get lighter so he’s quicker on his feet. He’s watched some film of Spence’s fights, studying his movements, tendencies and habit punches. Pacquiao declined to give hints of how he intends to battle Spence, noting his strategy is a secret.
Pacquiao said working hard in training is the key to a solid performance in the ring. “To make boxing easier, do your best not to be flat-footed in training because what you do in training, you can adapt to the fight,” he said. “The most important thing is to do in training twice or thrice more than what you do in a fight. If you do a combination of eight punches in training, you’ll probably do only two or three in a fight but you’re ready to go all out.”
Pacquiao confirmed that the fight will be at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, ending speculation that it may be brought to the 72,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders football team. “It’ll be a good fight,” he said. “A lot of world titles will be at stake. Spence is unbeaten, younger. But I’m confident, I have the experience, speed and power.” Pacquiao was installed the early underdog but over the last few days, the odds have gone down from +300 to +260. “It was the same trend when I fought (Keith) Thurman,” he said. “In the beginning, he was the favorite but as people found out how I was training and saw my speed and power hadn’t changed, the odds reversed by the time the fight started.”