snippets from the blog
Nov. 26, 2008
Manny is a quiet person. He loves the fame, though, because he likes people. He likes having people around him all the time. If you go to his house at any given time there could be 30, 40 people there playing darts or singing karaoke. He wants to be around people. And he’s a very giving person. I’ve seen with my own eyes a crowd of people 20 or 30 deep in front of his house (in the Philippines) waiting for him to come out. If he’s in a good mood, he’ll give them something. If not, he won’t. At Christmas, he gives everybody food. I think he gives away something like five tons of rice. It’s unbelievable how much he gives away. He’s a very giving person. I say, “Manny, don’t give it all away.” I worry about that sometimes.... Manny is truly a nice guy, a good person, someone who puts a smile on your face. He makes you feel good. He smiles at you and you smile back....
Nov. 24, 2008
I think this [vs. De La Hoya] will be Manny's best performance. Until now, though, his best performance was his second fight with Erik Morales (in 2006). The first fight with Morales [in which Pacquiao was badly cut and lost a close, but unanimous decision] was a great fight. We made some mistakes, though, both him and I. That’s when we let a lot of Filipino people into the gym. We had 60, 70 people watching him workout. It motivated him to be around people; he liked it a lot. I realized it was a mistake, though. It was a distraction. For the second Morales fight, I closed the gym down completely. No fans, no spectators. Just Manny working. We got a lot more done; Manny was more focused. He was in the perfect mental state. He knew he got beat the first time and wanted to prove to his people that he could beat this guy in the rematch. He had his whole country on his shoulders. He was just determined to win that fight and look what happened; he knocked him out (in the third round). Without doubt, that was the best performance of his career. He was dominating. And remember: Morales was one of the greatest fighters of his era. He was only guy to beat Manny in a long, long time.
Nov. 22, 2008
The key to Manny Pacquiao’s success is his work ethic. He works his ass off. He had a tendency to play a little bit hard a couple of years ago. He was a rock ‘n roll singer in the Philippines all of a sudden. He did something like seven movies over there. And I’m sure there were more things he was doing that I didn’t hear about. When he walks through the door at Wild Card Gym, though, he’s always the same person; his work ethic is phenomenal. He averages 40 to 50 rounds a day; that’s a normal workout. He’ll do 14 rounds (hitting) the mitts with no rest period. He doesn’t want to rest. He’s nonstop. He constantly wants to learn, to get better. He picked me to be the guy to teach him. He came to America looking for a new trainer and a new promoter in 2001. He started on the East Coast, then came west. His last stop was Los Angeles before going home. Everyone turned him down. Top Rank, Golden Boy, Don Chargin, Don King, the New York promoters. They turned him down. No one thought this 112-pound champion at one time was worth anything. I worked one round with him on the mitts and thought, “Wow. This kid can fight.” I went to his manager and said, “You have a new trainer.” We’ve been friends ever since. A month later, Manny fought (then-IBF super bantamweight titleholder (Lehlohonolo) Ledwaba. Manny was a 4-1 underdog. I wanted to bet on him but no one was taking bets; the line was too big. We know what happened [Pacquiao TKO 6]. It’s that work ethic. It’s unbelievable.
Nov. 20, 2008
I think people are fascinated with the David and Goliath story of this fight. Can the David [Manny Pacquiao] really beat the Goliath [Oscar De La Hoya]? Big vs. small. The Mexican-American vs. The Mexican Assassin, although Manny hates to be called that even though he’s beaten so many Mexican fighters. And a lot of people will be pulling for Manny, including a lot of Mexicans. We’re going to walk to the ring that night with Julio Cesar Chavez, Antonio Margarito and Erik Morales on our side. I could name five more if I had my head on straight. They’ll all be in our corner because Manny fights like a true Mexican and Oscar doesn’t. He’s always struggled to have Mexicans on his side. I still say that’s why he chose Nacho (Beristain) to train him. By choosing a true Mexican trainer, he’s trying to get true Mexican fans on his side. It doesn’t seem to be working. He does have a lot of fans, though. I know that.
Nov. 18, 2008
The biggest challenge right now is dealing with (HBO television documentary series) 24/7 every day. With my hectic schedule – I have four fights before Manny fights Oscar -- 24/7 (crew) is here today. The gym is really busy. (Actor) Mickey Rourke came in to do a photo shoot during one of Manny’s workouts and it disrupted us a bit. He’s a friend of mine; I couldn’t throw him out. I just didn’t let it get in the way of what Manny had to do. And there’s a lot of press, a lot of questions. A lot of people are saying to Manny, “You can do it.” A lot are saying, “You’re crazy. You’re gonna get killed.” Everyone has an opinion … and we have to listen to all of them. When I hear someone say Manny is going to get knocked out, I have a tendency to want to argue with them but then I just say, “You’re entitled to your beliefs. You believe what you want to believe.” I try not to let it get to me but sometimes, on bad days, it does get to me a little bit. I do fire back sometimes. And it gets me in trouble sometimes. I’m trying to keep a clear gym, trying to keep Manny focused, so I threw two guys out of the gym. One is suing me for a million dollars. He said I hit him; he was laying on the ground saying I hit him. I got served (last week). It’s just part of a big fight (laughs). He’s got no case. At least I hope he’s got no case. This isn’t like a normal fight in a lot of ways. I had (Michael) Moorer when he fought (Evander) Holyfield for the heavyweight title and this is bigger. That was the biggest fight I’d ever been around presswise – until now.
Nov. 16, 2008
At first, I thought putting this fight together would be impossible because Manny and Oscar were in different weight classes. Then I started thinking about it. After I trained Oscar, I realized he had trouble with smaller guys and southpaws. Oscar sparred with Ivan Calderon, the former 105-pound champion, when I trained him for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight because I wanted someone real quick. Calderon slapped Oscar around like it was unbelievable. I said between rounds one time, “Oscar, I want you to hit him one shot to show him who’s boss.” He couldn’t do it. I got mad at him. I told him the same thing another time; we used Calderon for a couple of days. I said, “Go ahead and hit that little mother.” Again, he couldn’t do it. Calderon was too quick and had a southpaw stance, like Manny does. That’s when I thought of Manny. I knew then it was a winnable fight.
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