Pacquiao outclasses new sparmate, says insider
Manny Pacquiao outclassed new sparmate Jose Luis Castillo during his first sparring session with the former World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion Tuesday at the Shape-Up gym inside the Cooyesan Hotel in Baguio Tuesday.
Legendary trainer Freddie Roach allowed the stocky Mexican to challenge the Filipino ring icon instead of regular sparmate Shawn Porter.
The two went at it for three rounds, and while they did not trade shots as intense as Porter and Pacquiao did the first time they sparred, a Pacquiao insider, who was inside during the closed-door training said the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter was dominant against the 35-year-old Castillo.
“Outclassed," said the Team Pacquiao insider. “Manny did not beat Castillo up but he got the better end of the sparring."
After Castillo, Pacquiao did four rounds with Porter.
At the end of the day, the Pacman has already logged a total of 38 rounds in sparring, still way off the 150 rounds Roach has planned in training camp for Pacquiao’s Nov. 14 fight with Miguel Cotto for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown.
Yet Roach was very satisfied with how his famous ward stood up against Castillo, best known for his memorable 2005 title fight with the late Diego Corrales.
“Freddie is happy. He believes Manny held his punches against Castillo. Manny went easy on him," said the source, adding that Roach assessed Pacquiao’s condition to be within 70 percent at this moment.
That should be right on target as Roach wants the Filipino ring icon to be already 80 percent fit by the time they shift training camp at the Wild Card gym in Los Angeles by next week.
Likewise, he expects Castillo to perform better as he gets accustomed to the training condition in Baguio. – GMANews.TV
