For giving him a reason to smile the past few days, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach told Manny Pacquiao to take a day off from gym work on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
As Pacquiao was getting ready to leave for the Wild Card Boxing Club after a morning workout, he got word that Roach would rather see him take a breather from sparring and instead report the following day.
With a little four weeks before taking on Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Pacquiao is peaking fast and Roach is not pressing the panic button.
It has happened a few times before with Roach giving Pacquiao unscheduled day-offs to allow him to cool down.
Roach knows Pacquiao too well that once the 55-year-old trainer feels that his prized pupil is not letting up on the accelerator, he gives him a break.
“Freddie game him a day off from the gym,” relayed Fred Sternburg, who serves as Pacquiao and Roach’s publicist.
Pacquiao, 36, is actually right on schedule as far as the buildup for the May 2 clash is concerned as he kicked off training as early as February even when a formal announcement for the Mayweather fight was still in the works.
Once Pacquiao gets the feel of everything in training, he tends to push himself to the limit without even knowing it.
“He always asks for an extra round or two of sparring or mitts even if I have already told him that we’ve done more than enough,” said Roach, who has been presiding over the Filipino’s corner the last four years.
Overtraining is one thing Roach is wary of.
Against a superbly conditioned and crafty foe like Mayweather, Roach knows that there should no room for error or even the slightest mistake on their part.
Meanwhile, the two fighters will hold back-to-back open workouts next week. Mayweather will hold his on April 14 at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas.
The following day, Pacquiao will stage his own training session at the Wild Card. Only credentialed media will be allowed access to both events. (Nick Giongco)