Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao underwent the required pre-fight physical examinations over the weekend and was declared fit to duke it out with Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Texas.
Pacquiao trooped to the San Pedro Medical Center in San Pedro, California to have his reflexes and vital signs checked and according to sportscaster Chino Trinidad, easily passed the battery of tests that included a check on his blood pressure, eye-hand coordination and balance, as well as an eye exam.
The 31-year-old pride of the Philippines also went through blood tests over two weeks before his WBO welterweight title defense against the tough Clottey.
Pacquiao, according to Trinidad, was visibly shaken having his blood taken for tests against performance-enhancing substances.
“Mahirap kapag ikaw ay kinunan ng dugo, lalo na sa aming mga atleta. Ang kailangan namin ay lakas so pag kinunan ng dugo, manghihina ka. Makaka-recover ka lang mga three or four days pa (after)," the Pacman told Trinidad in his TV interview.
The blood testing issue was interestingly the main reason for the fallout of negotiations for his botched megafight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Pacquiao had frowned upon Mayweather’s demands for random blood testing and instead pitched a procedure no more than 24 days before fight night.
For the Clottey fight, Pacquiao believed he has more than enough time to “recover" his strength.
“OK naman yan (blood tests) 24 days before the fight. Makaka-recover pa tayo," he said.
Pacquiao and his team are extremely confident against Clottey, whom trainer Freddie Roach said will fall for the first time in his career.
“Well, the more I watch Clottey, the more mistakes I find in him and I’m very confident Manny is going to knock him out and be the first person to knock him out," Roach said in an interview with the show “On the Ropes" posted on The Mushroom Magazine.
"I know he (Clottey) has a good chin. He’s a tough guy and he’s a nice guy, but just studying the tapes of him, he won’t last 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao in my opinion," he added.
Pacquiao, whom Roach said is doing great in training, will continue to hold camp at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles until March 8, the day they head to Dallas for fight week.
The Pacman, according to Fight News, is scheduled to hold an open workout on March 10 at the basement of the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine, Texas and join Clottey for a press conference at the Dallas Stadium on the same day. - GMANews.TV
Source: GMAnews.tv
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