At around the same time Manny Pacquiao was sweating it out at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood yesterday, Floyd Mayweather was almost doing the same thing in Las Vegas.
Exactly two months before the world comes to a halt, Mayweather and Pacquiao officially kicked off their respective two-month buildup for their May 2 unification welterweight clash at the MGM Grand.
Pacquiao actually began the day with a morning roadwork at the Pan Pacific Park after arriving in Los Angeles from Manila on Saturday night.
The park, which has a nice trail for running, exercise work and basketball courts, is often used by Pacquiao during sparring days (thrice-a-week). During non-sparring days (also thrice weekly), Pacquiao makes an ascent to Griffith Park.
While sparring won’t commence until probably the third week of March as Freddie Roach is tied up with Zou Shiming in Macau, Pacquiao will be attended to by long-time training assistant Buboy Fernandez and conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
Roach will be back at the Wild Card this Monday and he will immediately order everyone to buckle down to work in anticipation of the greatest fight of their lives.
After Mayweather and Pacquiao appear together during a press conference in downtown Los Angeles on March 11, the two will ease back to training mode and wont be seeing each other again until they set foot in Las Vegas during fight week.
Like Pacquiao, Mayweather began working out in earnest in his first day of training.
Pictures of a visibly fit Mayweather doing the mitts and shadowboxing made the rounds on social media, proof that the recently-turned 38-year-old Michigan native is out to make a lasting impression.
Pacquiao actually started working out in his hometown of General Santos City in the third week of February, soon after his arrival from a grueling trip to the US and England.
Two days before he left Manila for the US over the weekend, Pacquiao, 36, trained at the MP Tower that he owns, with spectators and members of his team, expressing optimism that their boss has what it takes to score a massive upset.