LOS ANGELES – Shallow waters are noisy; deep waters are silent.
That’s how Manny Pacquiao describes his loudmouthed foe Keith Thurman on Saturday after a torrid training session exactly a week before their world welterweight title clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“Mga ilog na mababaw maingay ‘yun eh (Shallow brooks are noisy),” said Pacquiao when asked by Manila-based scribes about Thurman’s penchant for trash-talking.
“Pabayaan mo na lang siya dumaldal (Let him talk),” he added when asked if he plans to tell him to at least zip his lip during fight week.
These were the words one would hear from somebody who is so secure about his stature, not from someone who is bidding to become a somebody.
Conditioning coach Justin Fortune admits that Pacquiao is no longer young but the Filipino legend remains a force to be reckoned with.
“Manny still has that speed and power and I haven’t seen the signs that would tell me that he is getting old,” said Fortune, a former Australian heavyweight campaigner who fought Lennox Lewis.
Thurman, younger by ten years at 30, swears he sees something only his discerning eyes could.
“He’s like a dodo bird. He’s like a dinosaur. He might be old, but he’s not extinct. That’s my job, to make him extinct,” Thurman told the Tampa Bay Times, his hometown paper.
While Thurman swears that he respects Pacquiao, he will have no choice but “to serve him up, medium rare.”
Meanwhile, Pacquiao expressed his readiness to battle Thurman, stressing he is “ready to fight him now, tomorrow.”
After doing four rounds, two each from AB Lopez and Jessie Roman, Pacquiao looked a bit bored and impatient that the fight is still seven days away.
“Ang tagal pa (I can’t wait),” said Pacquiao, who will take a breather from training Sunday for church service.
On Monday, Roach and Fortune would just like to see Pacquiao do a very light workout.
“There’s nothing else to do but maintain. He’s been ready to fight since last week,” said Fortune.
