Roach: Pacquiao Betting Favorite, He Has Thurman’s Number
Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs), has two weeks of rigorous training at world-famous Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club, six weeks total, under his belt. Manny is in full throttle for his challenge of undefeated WBA welterweight super champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs), from Clearwater, Florida, which takes place in 17 days.
Daily morning runs of three to five miles with hundreds of fans trailing, followed by one thousand sit-ups and assorted drills, afternoons at the gym, filled with 10 rounds of sparring, 10-12 rounds of mitts with Freddie and Buboy Fernandez, endless rounds of heavy bag and speed bag work, are capped off with another 1,000 sit-ups.
Is this normal behavior for a 40-year-old man? Not at all, but no one ever accused Manny of being ordinary. He continues to be history in the making.
“Manny is so unbelievably fast. He’s 40 years old and moving around the ring with the same speed he had when he was just a seven-division world champion,” said Roach.
“Manny has Keith Thurman’s number. Thurman is slower than Heinz ketchup. Manny is going to beat him 57 ways on July 20. The fans know it, and the sports books know it. Manny has gone from underdog to a betting favorite. Manny is money for this fight. It’s going to be champagne and Lobster Thurmandor for us!”
Boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the Philippines’ national treasure, Amazin’ Manny is preparing for his third world championship fight in the past 12 months. He and Thurman who is 10 years Manny’s junior, will battle in a welterweight world title attraction that headlines a PBC on FOX Sports Pay-Per-View event, Saturday, July 20, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
Pacquiao and Thurman will battle in a welterweight world title attraction that headlines a PBC on FOX Sports Pay-Per-View event beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. In a battle of unbeatens, IBF super middleweight world champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (28-0, 10 KOs), from Nashville, will make the first defense of his title against the pride of the University of Notre Dame Mike Lee (21-0, 11 KOs), from Chicago, in the main event of FOX PBC Fight Night and on FOX Deportes preceding the Pay-Per-View and beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
Marquis Johns is a unknown humorist and avid boxing fan. His love for the sweet science goes back to when matches were 15 rounds and has been covering fights since closed-circuit pay-per-views. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth is not only a quote by Mike Tyson, it's also a pretty good reminder to keep your guard up.
