Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2 win-loss-record with 38 knockouts) will begin light training this week at the Elorde Gym in Pasay City in preparation for his November 5 bout against American Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Liza Elorde, the husband of Johnny Elorde, confirmed the report to The Manila Times. “Yes, they will train there privately,” she said.
“Actually, I already started exercising and I really feel so good,” Pacquiao told The Times in a brief interview at the Senate. “I will do my training and conditioning here near the Senate. I’m starting some road- work here.”
Pacquiao’s personal adviser Mike Koncz also told The Times in a separate interview that Pacquiao indeed has started preparing for the fight.
“The training will be happening near the Senate and the schedule of training in Gensan is not yet final,” Koncz said in a phone interview. “I don’t have any schedule of the arrival of coach Freddie Roach, but I think he’ll be there four to five weeks before the fight.”
Vargas, the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion, who holds a 27-1 win-loss record with 10 knockouts), has also started his training for the fight in the US, according to reports. (JOSEF T. RAMOS, MT)