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Pacquiao tapers off training..

MANILA, Philippines — The hard grind is over for Manny Pacquiao. Whether it will pay off will be known this week.
The Filipino icon has tapered off his training in Los Angeles, almost two months since he arrived in the city he calls home in the United States to once again try to mold his battle-weary body into a mean fighting machine.

Whether he succeeded in doing so, again, remains to be seen.
But the 46-year-old Pacquiao is confident he has done enough in the past four weeks or so to scrape off rust brought by a four-year inactivity, as he challenges World Boxing Council welterweight champion Mario Barrios.
“The way I trained, the way I worked hard (was) to make sure I can give a good fight to the fans,” he said in a hype video by Premier Boxing Champions, which is promoting this weekend’s big fight.
Pacquiao has once again come back from retirement to take another shot at boxing glory, this time against a much younger and bigger opponent in Barrios at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 19 (Sunday, July 20 Manila time).
On Saturday at the Wild Card Gym (Sunday in Manila), the legendary fighter took to the ring for the last time to spar, going four rounds with Saul Bustos, who could pass off as a Barrios’ doppelgänger.

Bustos (15-2-1, with 8 knockouts) was one of four fighters tapped to spar with Pacquiao. At 5-foot-11, he is almost as tall as Barrios, who is listed at six feet tall.
The 30-year-old Barrios has youth and size on his side, making him a tough customer for Pacquiao, whose last fight in 2021 against Yordenis Ugas ended up in a disappointing defeat.
The Mexican-American Barrios, in contrast, was able to knock Ugas down twice en route to a unanimous decision win when they clashed in 2023.
“Mario Barrios, I know he trained hard. He (has) to defend his belt,” said Pacquiao.
Pacquiao will hold a light workout on Monday morning (Tuesday in Manila) before breaking camp and heading to Las Vegas in the afternoon for fight week.
Again, Pacquiao insists he has done his homework.
“I’m a challenger, so I have to [go the] extra mile to punish myself in able to win the fight, and that’s my goal,” he said.