USA: BOXING - While opening up his training camp in Los Angeles ahead of a June fight with American Tim Bradley, Manny Pacquiao says bible study and time with family have helped his concentration in the ring

Record ID: 346574

  • Title: USA: BOXING - While opening up his training camp in Los Angeles ahead of a June fight with American Tim Bradley, Manny Pacquiao says bible study and time with family have helped his concentration in the ring
  • Date: 9th May 2012
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 07, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MANNY PACQUIAO SHADOW BOXING IN RING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANNY PACQUIAO TRAINER, FREDDIE ROACH, SAYING: "Lot of bible studying, lot of praying, not so strenuous a task. he gave his cock farm away, he gave his nightclub away. he gave his casino away -- he doesn't gamble anymore, he doesn't drink anymore, he and his wife are together all the time and are very happy together and just, right now you have he had a ton of distractions that were mentally very tasking on him and now he's just praying and he's back to the bible and it's working out very well for him." (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANNY PACQUIAO SAYING: "Reading the bible is to know the bible, and I believe that the bible is the manual for life, so we have to read our manual." MANNY PACQUIAO SHADOW BOXING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FREDDIE ROACH SAYING: "True. The only setback is that he said 'God doesn't want me to hurt people,' but I told him god understands that this is a sport, Manny, and it's the oldest sport in the world and I think he boxed too. I might be lying a little bit there, but who knows." VARIOUS OF MANNY PACQUIAO SHADOW BOXING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FREDDIE ROACH TALKING ABOUT MANNY'S UPCOMING OPPONENT, TIM BRADLEY, SAYING: "He's a very very tough opponent, he's undefeated, he's very resilient he's very disciplined. his work ethic is really, really good. He says he's the hardest trainer in the world. I think I have the hardest trainer in the world and I said we'll see who's standing at the end." (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANNY TAPING WRISTS WHILE SAYING: "It's dangerous because Bradley is young, younger than me and he's undefeated, and he's a champion." (SOUNDBITE) (English) FREDDIE ROACH, TALKING ABOUT FLOYD MAYWEATHER, SAYING: "You never know where he stands, and so forth that fight the world wants to see it's a megafight, it's a big money fight and both guys can retire a lot easier after they fight each other and but when he struggled with Cotto, though, Manny dominated with Cotto, maybe that's given him a little sign that he can't deal with Manny but i just don't think he can stand being second best, though." VARIOUS OF MANNY SPARRING WITH ROACH
  • Embargoed: 24th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAANSPSBFZIO4M8PCEMSGQG3ZFG
  • Story Text: Manny Pacquiao has become a more disciplined boxer and a happier person since he replaced his gambling and nightclubbing habits with increased bible study and family time, says his trainer Freddie Roach.
    The Filipino southpaw decided to change his ways after narrowly retaining his WBO welterweight title with a controversial majority decision over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas last November.
    Roach described that bout as the first bad night Pacquiao had experienced in a decade and that his fighter's preparation had been adversely distracted by his extravagant interests away from the ring. The bespectacled Roach talked to Reuters at the Wild Card Boxing Club on Monday (May 07) before conducting a sparring session for Pacquiao.
    "Manny has got rid of a lot of distractions in his life and he has some new distractions that are a lot better than the old ones."
    Asked to detail the distractions, both old and new, Roach replied: "The news ones are a lot of bible study and a lot of praying, and those are not so strenuous a task.
    "He gave his nightclub away, he gave his casino away, he doesn't gamble any more and he doesn't drink any more. He and his wife are together all the time now and they are very happy together.
    "Before, he had a ton of distractions that were mentally very tasking on him. Now he is just praying, he's gone back to the bible and it's working out very well for him," said Roach.
    Pacquiao, who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions to cement his status as the best pound-for-pound boxer, said his decision to 'clean up' his lifestyle had been an easy one to make.
    "No more gambling, no more drinking. Reading the bible is to know the bible, and I believe that the bible is the manual for life," the 33-year-old told Reuters while he taped up his hands in a tiny dressing room at the Wild Card Boxing Club.
    Pacquiao returned to Los Angeles on Saturday, having spent four weeks in the Philippines training for his June 9 bout in Las Vegas with undefeated junior welterweight champion Timothy Bradley of the United States.
    While Roach believes Bradley is a challenging match-up for Pacquiao, he forecast a victory inside the distance for his own fighter at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
    "He's a very very tough opponent, he's undefeated, he's very resilient he's very disciplined. his work ethic is really, really good. He says he's the hardest trainer in the world. I think I have the hardest trainer in the world and I said we'll see who's standing at the end," said Roach, a shrewd tactician who has been uncannily accurate with his fight predictions in the past.
    Another topic of discussion was a possible fight with Floyd Mayweather, his rival for the title of the world's best pound-for-pound fighter, who on Saturday came through 12 bruising rounds to outpoint Miguel Cotto in their WBA super welterweight clash in Las Vegas.
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