PACQUIAO EYES KNOCKOUT

MANNY PACQUIAO wants nothing but an impressive knockout when he defends his World Boxing Association welterweight belt against American Adrien Broner on January 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The 40-year-old fighting senator eases his training at the famed Wild Card Gym as the team now turns its attention on furnishing the gameplan against Broner, who also toned down on training as he appeared in court to address two separate sexual assault cases.

Pacquiao completed only four rounds of sparring over the weekend—two each against George Kambosos and Arnold Gonzales—after rigorous 10-round sessions last week.

The world’s only eight-division world champion returned to the Wild Card Gym in late December and reunited with Freddie Roach, who now serves as a consultant. Before flying to the US, he trained for a month in Manila and General Santos City.

Pacquiao vowed to floor his challenger, who is 11 years younger, the same way he did to Argentine Lucas Matthysse last July in Kuala Lumpur.

“It’s great to be back in the US. I am training hard for a knockout victory,” Pacquiao said on his Twitter account.

Unlike Pacquiao who is mentally focused in the final stretch of his training, it’s the other way around for Broner, who attended two court hearings in separate states for sexual misconduct.

Broner was arrested last February in Atlanta for allegedly groping a woman. Four months later, he was arrested for creating a scene inside a nightclub in Cleveland.

Roach said a striking performance could pave the way for a Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. rematch.

Mayweather demolished Japanese unbeaten kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at a three-round New Year’s Eve exhibition match.

The bout was through in the first round. Roach sees that appearance by Mayweather as a prelude to his return to the ring af ter announcing his retirement in 2015.

“I feel a hundred percent that is why he did that,” Roach told BoxingScene. “I’m sure Mayweather will want to fight the winner of this fight. That’s why we definitely have to win this.”

Ramon Rafael Bonilla