Pacquiao spends Christmas Eve training, reunites with Coach Freddie Roach

FILE: “Late Friday post of my first fight working with Manny Pacquiao.” (Photo: @freddieroach/Instagram)

With the upcoming Pacquiao-Broner match happening in Las Vegas on January 19, 40-year-old Manny Pacquiao spends Christmas Eve at the Wildcard gym in Hollywood training with Hall of Famer and his former coach, Freddie Roach.

The two had a falling out in 2017 after Pacquiao’s loss to Australian Jeff Horn in Brisbane, but now Roach had agreed to supervise the boxer’s training with close pal Buboy Fernandez. In a press conference upon his arrival to the United States last Tuesday, December 18, Pacquiao also revealed that he “doesn’t have any problem with Freddie Roach,” and that “Freddie can supervise or instruct Buboy, this is what we’re going to do.”

Coach Freddie even found a way to open the Wild Card gym on Sundays when it is usually closed to accommodate the eight-division world champion’s first training in Los Angeles in the last two years. “Manny reached out directly,” Roach reportED, “We sat together one-on-one. I’ll be in his corner January 19,” previously also sharing, “I’ve been like a father to Manny for 15 years.”

In an exclusive with Boxing News, Pacquiao’s head coach Fernandez shared that “[he and Pacquiao] are glad to be back where [they] first started as a team” and that “[he] has no problem working with Coach Freddie,” saying, “We’re sharing inputs and observations to plug every hole or cover all angles to ensure our victory come January 19.” Fernandez’s team also includes strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, Nonoy Neri, and Roger “Haplas” Fernandez.

Before heading to Wildcard Gym on December 24, Pacquiao was also spotted building up leg power at the uphill slopes of Griffith Park. Assistant trainer Haplas Fernandez joked to the media that despite Christmas Day being devoted to sparring, “[we] know how Boss is,” and they are only depending to resume training again on Wednesday, because “Christmas is over by then,” with regular sparring partner George Kambosos ready to get back to work with the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion as well.