Pacquiao, sparmate toe-to-toe

Manny Pacquiao went three blistering rounds with unbeaten super-welterweight Shawn Porter as the Filipino pound-for-pound king's training for his November 14 clash with Miguel Cotto went up a notch with his first sparring session.

“They both traded hard shots,” said Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach after the workout at the Shape Up Gym inside the Cooyeesan Hotel in Baguio City. “Porter is (very strong).”

Now that sparring has started, Pacquiao will now have to do it thrice a week and on Thursday, Roach said he will go four rounds, two with the Ohio-bred Porter and another two with Urbano Antillon, a lightweight contender from California.

After Wednesday's session, Pacquiao will have to get himself ready again for the Saturday session.

Porter and Antillon arrived in the country from Los Angeles last Sunday but only made it to Baguio the following day due to massive flooding in Metropolis and low-lying areas in Luzon the past few days.

Porter, 21, an alternate in the US team to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has a 10-0 win-loss card with eight knockouts and is revving up for a fight sometime in the third week of November in Mississippi.

Owing to the similarity of his fighting style to Cotto, Porter will be Pacquiao's main sparring partner.

“He's just perfect (for this training camp),” said Roach, who will camp out in the City of Pines until Pacquiao advises his entire team to transfer to either Los Angeles or even straight to Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, who heads Top Rank Inc., is arriving in Manila tomorrow morning for the media day scheduled that day.

If weather permits, Arum will be flown to Baguio by former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson's private plane.

If it is deemed unsafe to travel by air because of the current weather conditions, Arum will be brought there on board one of Singson's full-sized SUVs.

Source: mb.com.ph