No rope-a-dope for Pacquiao – Buboy
There is one thing trainer Buboy Fernandez cautions Manny Pacquiao against without letup.
“Huwag ka magpa-lubid (Don’t stay on the ropes),” Fernandez bared to the Bulletin as he prepares to preside over another round of intense training in General Santos City less than three weeks before the title challenge against Argentine world welterweight king Lucas Matthysse.
Fernandez warns Pacquiao that Matthysse packs dynamite and that being caught on the ropes, the strategy Muhammad Ali used in beating George Foreman in 1974, is too big a risk to take.
“’Yan ang laging kong sinasabi sa kanya. Huwag na huwag (I’ve been constantly reminding him never to allow that),” said Fernandez, who has assumed the huge responsibility of becoming the main voice in the corner in the absence of Freddie Roach.
Pacquiao doesn’t seem to mind Fernandez’s ever-constant reminders.
“Masaya siya kapag nag-eensayo kami at determinado syang magbigay ng magandang panalo, (He’s happy when we are training and he is determined to come up with a strong performance),” said Fernandez.
Pacquiao, who turns 40 this December, seems like a fighter about to get his first title shot unlike in the recent past when he would either skip training or come in late to the gym. But not this time. “Ilang beses na dumating siya sa gym 12:30 at hindi 1 o’clock, two o’clock or 3. Kita mo yung kagustuhan nyang makapagbigay ng magandang panalo, (He has always been in time for training, indicating he really wants a big win), “he said.
A knockout, no less, Fernandez said.