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AMERICAN
trainer Freddie Roach is now in the hunt for a new batch
of sparring partners for his prized fighter Manny Pacquiao.
In a
radio interview yesterday with dzSR’s Sports Chat,
Roach said he will tap three to four sparring partners
for Pacquiao, all of whom must be southpaws.
“They
will all be new. I’m looking for two more and we need
some good sparring partners,” said Roach.
 Roach is
looking for southpaw fighters to simulate Pacquiao’s
next opponent David Diaz. The two will battle for Diaz’s
World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight crown on June 28
at the
Mandalay
Bay
in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Topping
the list of Roach’s preferred sparmates is former world
champion Freddie Norwood, a 38-year-old former
featherweight ruler, who dealt Mexican Juan Manuel
Marquez a sound beating in their 12-round title fight
back in 1999.
“He’s a
very good southpaw and he now weighs 140 lb and so he is
my first choice right now,” said Roach.
After
losing in a title bout against Derrick Gainer in
September 2000, Norwood (42-2-1, 23 knockouts) retired
but made a comeback six years later and scored four
straight wins.
Norwood
lost his last bout September of last year via
sixth-round disqualification to Johnnie Edwards. He will
have a chance at payback as both will again meet atop
the ring late next month in North Carolina.
Roach is
expecting Pacquiao to be at the Wild Card Gym a few days
before the scheduled press conference on May 12 in Los
Angeles to officially announce the title match dubbed
“Lethal Combination.”
“I have
no worries. Manny told me he’s dedicating this year to
boxing and he knows that he needs to stay focused,” said
Roach. “One thing about Manny, once he steps into the
Wild Card [Gym], it’s all business, and that’s what I
love about Manny Pacquiao.”
In the
same radio interview, Roach insisted that Diaz is one
tough fighter and warned people around Pacquiao not to
feed him insinuations that the current champion will be
an easy prey for the Filipino boxing sensation.
“The
problem I am having is that people keep on telling Manny
that David Diaz will be an easy fight. That’s not true
because Diaz is an Olympian, he is a southpaw and very
strong,” said Roach. “People who tell Manny it will be
an easy fight are dead wrong. We are going to be in the
best shape of our lives for this one, so I’m looking
forward to a good training camp.”
Two
weeks ago American promoter Bob Arum disclosed to the
BusinessMirror that for the first time in Pacquiao’s
career, only eight tickets per person can be purchased
after the box-office people told Arum about a tremendous
demand for tickets.
“There
are 11,500 available tickets to be sold and more than
7,000 have been sold here in the
US,”
said Arum. “The box-office people felt it was fair to
limit the number of tickets. They said that it’s the
biggest first-day sale for a Manny Pacquiao fight ever
and they had to limit orders to eight seats per
customer.” |
