Boxing’s only eight-division world champion, Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao has already begun sparring in the Philippines for his July 20th FOX Pay-Per-View fight with Keith Thurman in Las Vegas.
The fighting Senator is in camp with his longtime conditioning coach Justin Fortune and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez.
Pacquiao started sparring with undefeated Australian junior middleweight Tim Tszyu (13-0, 10KOs) on Tuesday June 4. The son of ring legend Kostya Tszyu was brought in by Justin Fortune.
There is no slowing down for the full time Senator and part-time boxer. A fire was lit under him during the press tour when the undefeated WBA (Super) welterweight champion Thurman mocked him by saying Pacquiao had T-Rex arms, is slow, has low boxing IQ, and he would retire him.
Pacquiao felt disrespected. Not even longtime rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. would insult Pacquiao during their press tour.
Thurman is either selling the fight as a villain or he really thinks Pacquiao is going to be a cake walk.
One thing is for sure Pacquiao is doing the opposite and taking the fight seriously with the addition of a younger and stronger prospect like Tszyu as a chief sparring partner.
Tim Tszyu who campaigns in the junior middleweight division (154 pounds), last fought on May 15 against Joel Camilleri and won by unanimous decision.
Team Pacquiao is training in the Philippines for a few weeks before moving to Hollywood, California to train with hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Boxing club.
The Pacquiao vs. Thurman fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and will air on FOX PPV on July 20, 2019. The fight will be for the official WBA welterweight championship of the world, with Pacquiao holding the regular version and Thurman with the super title, considered by many as the legit version of the belt.
