Will a slower Pacquiao still opt to rock-n-roll?

PROMOTER Bob Arum and handlers of boxing superstar Manny Paquiao were all amazed at the devastating power displayed by the eight-division world title winner in his first sparring at the Wild Card gym in California early this week.

Trainer Freddie Roach did not bother to disagree, although he also offered a separate view. He told Steve Kim of Boxing.com that Pacquiao “has slowed down a bit.”

The change noted by Roach could indeed be insignificant, because the multiawarded trainer also assured Pacquiao he should be able to win his third meeting with Timothy Bradley next month by knockout.

“I will honestly say that he’s not the same guy who fought Ricky Hatton in 2009,” Roach said. Pacquiao stopped Hatton inside two rounds in that mon- umental match-up.

The way Roach explained it, the slight change in Pacquiao’s patented killer velocity should have no bearing on their plan to finally stop Bradley, after two unsuccessful attempts.

There’ll be no alternate plan, Pacquiao goes for the kill no matter what.

*** Anyway, himself speaking Teddy Atlas, Bradley’s new trainer, said he expects the same dangerous relentless Pacquiao inside the ring on April 9.

Atlas refused to say if he would ride on Pacquiao’s perceived slowing down.

At the same time though, Atlas said he would make Bradley seize the moment and dictate the tempo of the third encounter between the two top welterweight rivals.

That, needless to say, makes for a whirlwind confrontation between two non-stop attackers, the Pacific Storm against the Desert Storm.

There’ll be no room for cautious waltzing, but a lot for rocking and rolling all night long.

The way trainer Roach had sounded, they would be relying on the tested fiery style they had used against Bradley. All for the simple reason that Bradley, Roach would insist, could not be expected to improve or change under Atlas.

*** Onthe other hand, Atlas said hewould not be surprised if it’s a wiser, more cautious Pacquiao that Bradley would be fighting for the third time. Atlas hinted on some possible adjustments, based on the nightmare stoppage Pacquiao had suffered in the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.

“We’re all influenced by what happens to us. I don’t know that it’s a negative. It (the KO) is something that could be positive for him,” Atlas explained.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao’s training in California for Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) had to be cancelled. Close-in writer Eddie Alinea said Pacquiao was visibly fagged out after a gruelling sparring session. Alinea said it was the third time Pacquiao had requested for a pause since they pitched camp in General Santos City last February.