Manny Pacquiao has first day of sparring in preparation for Floyd Mayweather fight

March 17, 2015

With the biggest fight of his career looming on the horizon, Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) has kept his current training camp at the Wild Card Boxing Club behind relatively closed doors compared to his past fights, but today he let it be known that he was having his first day of sparring in preparation for his May 2 welterweight world championship unification battle against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26 KOs).

“After 13 days of strength and conditioning and boxing drills at Wild Card plus weeks more of working out in the Philippines in February, it was great to finally put on the headgear and spar,” said Pacquiao.  “My sparring partners gave me good work today.  They were perfect for testing the strategy Freddie and I have developed to beat Floyd Mayweather .  I was very happy with my stamina and speed today.”

Pacquiao sparred for five total rounds against two different sparring partners.  Other outlets have reported that those two sparring partners were Finland's Edis Tatli (24-1, 8 KOs), and junior welterweight prospect Kenneth Sims Jr. (5-0, 2 KOs).

Trainer Freddie Roach came away quite impressed, and doled out his own bit of St. Patrick's Day humor.

“When Manny threw out the first punch it felt like opening day of Irish Spring Training,” joked Roach.  “Manny looked so fresh today.  I’m very happy with what he showed me.  You couldn’t tell he had been away from the ring since the Algieri fight in November.  Manny is on fire in the gym.  I am confident May 2 will be celebrated for years to come as St. Manny’s Day – the day he drove Mayweather out of boxing!”

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services

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