Philippine superstar Manny Pacquiao will not have to worry about suffering from jet lag in the run-up to his fourth fight against Mexican dynamo Juan Manuel Marquez.
Pacquiao said he is making major changes to his preparations this time for the Dec. 8 non-title fight at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
Instead of starting training camp in his native Philippines, then shifting to trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym in Hollywood for final weeks, Pacquiao plans to do all his sparring at the southern California facility.
Photo: AFP
“No days will be wasted traveling between training camps in the Philippines and California,” Pacquiao said on Monday.
The two boxing warriors began a three-city promotional tour on Monday by staging a press conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The tour continues with another press conference today in New York.
The contest at the MGM’s Grand Garden Arena will be the fourth fight in the intense rivalry between the two boxing champions. Pacquiao said this time he will not make the mistake of underestimating Marquez when they square off.
“I underestimated him in our last fight,” Pacquiao said. “I will make the most of every training day to prepare for Juan Manuel.”
Between them Pacquiao and Marquez have won world titles in 12 weight divisions. The Grand Garden was the scene of their first and third fights.
Pacquiao (54-4-2m, 38 knockouts) defeated Marquez in a majority decision in November last year — a third gut-wrenching result for Marquez against his foe from the Philippines.
In the buildup to that fight, Marquez had taunted Pacquiao with claims that he was the true winner of their first two clashes — a 2004 draw and a 2008 rematch.
“I am very excited to be fighting Manny again,” Marquez said on Monday. “I beat him the first three fights, but did not get the decision — this time I will beat him again and I also will get the victory officially.”
Pacquiao’s seven-year, 15-bout win streak was snapped in June when he lost a controversial split decision to Palm Springs boxer Tim Bradley.
Marquez (54-6-1, 39 knockouts) is one of a handful of Mexican boxers to have won world titles in four different weight classes.
He lost his World Boxing Council title in the 2008 rematch with Pacquiao by a split decision that was decided by just one point on the judges’ scorecards.
“This fight, I truly believe, will be the best of the four that these two great warriors have engaged in. After Pacquiao won a close decision from Marquez, both Pacquiao and Marquez want to win decisively to erase any doubts,” boxing promoter Bob Arum said.
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