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Manny Pacquiao Is Back In Training
& Back On The Job In The Senate
With speaking engagements to the students of the Oxford
Union and the Cambridge Union and a whirlwind U.S. media
tour to announce his WBA welterweight world title defense
against former four-division world champion Adrien Broner
behind him, boxer laureate Senator MANNY "Pacman" PACQUIAO
is back in Manila, working three shifts and two jobs daily.
For Pacquiao, it's just another day in the office. Make that
offices -- his gym and the Philippine Senate.
Boxing's only eight-division world champion and the BWAA's
reigning Fighter of the Decade, Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs),
is putting in 14 to 16-hour days training for his upcoming
fight against Cincinnati's Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs) and
serving his constituents. Until the current Senate session
ends, on December 12, Pacquiao's typical work day begins at
6:30 a.m. with a 5.2-mile run followed by strength and
conditioning work. After that it is breakfast and Senate
work, followed by a two-hour gym session. Following a quick
lunch, Pacquiao is off to the Senate where his second work
day begins around 1:30 p.m. and usually ends no earlier than
8:30 p.m., where he heads home to dinner with his family.
On Monday, Pacquiao, one of the few senators to take on the
cigarette/tobacco lobby, gave a speech to the plenary making
another push for his Senate Bill 1599, which he first
introduced in 2017, seeking to raise the excise tax on
tobacco products.
Citing the benefits of "The Sin Tax Reform Act," which was
passed in 2012, and resulted in a significant decrease in
the number of smokers, Pacquiao said, in a privilege speech,
"The main objective for the proposal of this bill is to save
lives. This goes to show that increasing tobacco tax works.
However, because of increasing incomes and population, it is
expected that, without any increase in the tobacco tax, we
can expect one million new smokers by year 2022."
Additionally, Pacquiao said that the number of Filipino
smokers would decrease by one million while generating 30 to
40 billion pesos in incremental revenues.
Once the Philippine Senate session concludes, Manny will
return to his home in General Santos City where he will
continue training. There will be one interruption -- his
fortieth birthday celebration on December 17. Pacquiao and
his team will depart for the U.S., on December 22, and begin
phase two of his training at Freddie Roach's Wild Card
Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif.
Regarding Pacquiao's first week of training camp, here is
what the team had to say.
"It is good to be back home in the Philippines. It is time
to get to work. I have to really focus and train hard for
this fight," said Pacquiao. "I am excited for January 19.
Excited to be facing Adrien Broner. Excited to be back at
the MGM Grand Garden Arena, my second home, fighting in
front of my fans."
"Training has been good so far. It is great to be back to
training. After two weeks, we will be in very good
condition. Manny is still very aggressive and still hungry.
I have to make sure that we do our best as trainers to
prepare Manny for Adrien Broner just like we did for the
Lucas Matthysse fight," said Buboy Fernandez, Pacquiao's
trainer.
Added Justin Fortune, Pacquiao's strength and conditioning
coach, "We have had good training sessions. We started the
week off slowly with light training , but it has become
stronger as the week progressed because Manny came into camp
in great shape. He is very fresh and very strong."
A three-time Fighter of the Year, Pacquiao, who hails from
Sarangani Province in the Philippines, is the only sitting
Congressman and Senator to win a world title. After serving
two terms as Congressman, Pacquiao was elected to a
Philippine Senate seat in May 2016, capturing over 16
million votes nationally. Pacquiao’s boxing resume features
victories over at least seven current and future Hall of
Famers, including Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Marco
Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley,
and Juan Manuel Marquez. In his last fight, with Philippine
President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad in attendance (the first time two heads of
state attended a championship boxing event), Pacquaio, 39,
regained the welterweight title for a fourth time with a
vintage performance on July 15 at Axiata Arena in Kuala
Lampur, Malaysia, by knocking out defending WBA champion
Lucas Matthysse in the seventh round.
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