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By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao is nearing his peak condition as he wraps up his Manila training with still three weeks to go before his boxing return against Jessie Vargas.
Trainer Freddie Roach said that Pacquiao is close to his fighting form after undergoing 12 rounds of sparring sessions last week with Mexican Jose Ramirez and Filipino boxer Sonny Katiandagho, who took over for Ilonggo Leonardo Doronio.
“Everything has been set in place so I believe we have to slow down a little bit this week to give Manny the much needed break,” said the Hall-of-Fame trainer.
“Not that Manny’s already reached his peak, but we’re heading to that. He’ll be there,” Roach added. “We’ll be looking for things that we missed and filling in the void. We’ll try to improve a little bit here and a little bit there to be sure that we cover all bases down.”
Pacquiao and his team are set to fly to the United States on Saturday to resume their training for his WBO welterweight title clash with Vargas on Nov. 6 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
This will be Pacquiao’s first boxing match since announcing his retirement after defeating Timothy Bradley for the third time last April at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao has a 58-6-2, 38 KOs win-loss-draw ring record. However, he has lost three of his last seven fights, against Bradley, Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez and retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Meanwhile, the Las Vegas-native Vargas, who captured the WBO welterweight title by beating Sadam Ali last March, boasts an impressive 27-1-0, 10 KOs win-loss-draw ring record./PN
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