Public Shut Out Of Manny Pacquiao's Sparring Sessions

By Troy Sparks

We have an idea of how hard Manny Pacquiao is working for his upcoming fight against Antonio Margarito next month.   Too bad fans at the Shape Up Gym won't see the work ethic of the Pac-Man for themselves .

Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, made sure that Pacquiao's sparring sessions would no longer be open to the public.

Why is that, you may ask?  He doesn't want anyone from the Margarito camp to do a scouting report on his fighter.

It doesn't matter who Pacquiao spars with.  If the wheels are in motion for Pacquiao on fight day, he'll beat Margarito easily.

Roach is setting the same rules for sparring as the Mayweather camp did.  I don't know why it's a big deal for trainers to forbid the public from watching their favorite boxers spar in the ring.

That rule even includes the filming crew of HBO's "24/7."  They couldn't shoot footage of any sparring sessions involving Floyd Mayweather, and they can't shoot Pacquiao sparring or working with the mitts.

To prepare for the height advantage that Margarito has over Pacquiao, Roach brought in some figthers over six feet tall.  Pacquiao's relentless energy wore the sparring fighters down.

I'd say that the simulated sessions are indications of what Pacquiao will do to Margarito.

In addition to that, Roach is reducing the number of sparring rounds from 160 to 110 over the last six weeks of preparation.

Pacquiao also has the green light to play basketball instead of running.  Is he preparing for a career in hoops in the under 6' 0" league in the Philippines?  Give me a break!

After Pacquiao beats Margarito, as Roach predicts, and the attention is focused on Mayweather, will Roach let up on the Pac-Man's training if Mayweather accepts the challenge?

I'd bet that Roach will increase the sparring rounds for Pacquiao from 110 rounds to 210 rounds when they game plan for Mayweather.