{"id":10972,"date":"2011-10-31T03:10:35","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T03:10:35","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-11-01T04:11:44","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T04:11:44","slug":"Pacquiao-Takes-It-Personally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=10972","title":{"rendered":"Pacquiao Takes It Personally"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manny Pacquiao never takes his fights personally. The pound-for-pound king\u2019s opponents are usually quite respectful of his throne, and the easygoing Pacquiao shrugs off any stray insults with a smile.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not this time. Not in his third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, the closest thing to an archrival for this unrivaled eight-division champion.<\/p>\n

Pacquiao\u2019s trainers are sensing an unsettling edge in the Filipino congressman<\/strong>, who started an all-out training regimen with pre-dawn runs and lengthy gym workouts before the fight was even announced. The steady stream of bloody, beaten sparring partners leaving the Wild Card Gym testifies to a focus that nobody in Pacquiao\u2019s camp has ever seen.<\/p>\n

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\nI don\u2019t think this fight is going to go six rounds.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s coach<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not upset, but I get excited because he\u2019s claiming that he won the fights,\u201d Pacquiao said while wrapping his hands in the broom closet that serves as his dressing room at trainer Freddie Roach\u2019s gym in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I train hard, because I want to end this, all the doubts. This is our last fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pacquiao admits he\u2019s insulted by Marquez\u2019s boastful insistence that he won their first two fights, which ended in a draw in 2004 and a split decision for Pacquiao in 2008.<\/strong> Marquez even traveled to the Philippines to plead his case to the public, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with: \u201cWe Were Robbed.\u201d<\/p>\n