• 
• Tweet

• Tweet

Manny Pacquiao wanted to send a strong message that he is dead serious in his preparation for his upcoming fight and his sparring partner could prove how determined the former welterweight champion is.

In his first sparring session in his native land General Santos City, the former pound-for-pound king pummeled his sparring partner Anthony “Rocky” Marcial, who was forced to quit in the third round after receiving gut-wrenching blows from the Filipino boxing icon.

According to Ronnie Nathanielz of Boxing Scene, Pacquiao threw a series of rapid and hard blows that was simply too much for Marcial, who has an impressive 18-1 record with 17 knockouts and is considered as one of the most promising welterweight fighters from the Philippines.

Gym owner Rey Golingan, who has been following the training sessions of Pacquiao since day one quashed all the rumors about Pacquiao’s lack of focus. He said that the 33-year-old fighter is “very serious and is training hard and looks good” for his upcoming fourth bout against Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Golingan also added that Pacquiao has been dedicated with his daily training, doing morning jogging and afternoon gym workouts with long-time trainer and friend Buboy Fernandez.

Meanwhile, Marquez also started the sparring stage of his preparation in Mexico City under his famed trainer Nacho Beristain.

In an interview with Boxing Scene, Beristain said: “Juan and I met to outline the roadmap to follow. We agreed that we will begin the hard work for this fight. Today, we will start boxing with sparring partners and do a total of six rounds.”

Beristain revealed that they are planning to have 120 rounds of sparring sessions and he believes that it will be enough for Marquez to be in great shape once he steps on the ring once again against his archrival later this year.

Photo Credits: Philboxing.com