Australian strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune said yesterday Manny Pacquiao is ready to go 12 rounds in battling WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, on July 19 but isn’t discounting the possibility of a knockout win.
“Manny’s power is intact and it’s God’s gift,” said Fortune who has worked with Pacquiao since 2003. “He’s always in shape, he’s as strong as ever. Of course, it could go the distance. Nobody wants to get knocked out and Barrios is the world champion. But Barrios thinks he can walk all over an old man. That’s not going to happen.”
Fortune said Barrios is beatable and isn’t in the same class as the welterweight champions of the recent past like Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Oscar de la Hoya. “This new generation of 147-pound champs isn’t the same as before,” he said. “Barrios is slow, flat-footed. Still, he’s a warrior and if he gets hit, he’ll strike back. He’ll stand up and fight.”
The other day, Pacquiao sparred 12 rounds at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, taking on 5-10 undefeated lightweight Darrial Kuchmenov in six and 5-11 welterweight Saul Bustos in six. “Manny wasn’t even breathing hard,” said Fortune. “Those guys are good fighters who’re tall like Barrios.” Kuchmenov, 22, has a 9-0 record, with 7 KOs while Bustos, 31, is 15-2-1, with 8 KOs.
“The key is not to overtrain and burn out,” said Fortune. “You know Manny, he always asks for more rounds so we pull him back. It’s about quality over quantity. We don’t talk about the (Yordenis) Ugas fight. All is forgotten. The camp for Ugas was chaotic. Too many distractions and Manny was running for president the next year. He had things on his mind. Bad timing for a fight but that’s in the past. Things are different now. Camp has been terrific.”
It was Pacquiao who reached out to Fortune to reunite with his team. “We’re all back together, Freddie (Roach), Buboy (Fernandez) and Manny’s working as hard as ever,” said Fortune.
Photo: Justin Fortune (with his 8-year-old twins Cayden and Sophie) watches over Manny Pacquiao in an outdoor workout in LA (photo by Jhay Otamias).
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