Pacquiao
Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, who is running for Senator in the May 2016 national elections, speaks to supporters during the start of elections campaigning in Mandaluyong city, Metro Manila February 9, 2016. Reuters/Janis Alano

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is pleased about the outcome of Manny Pacquiao’s training in the Philippines despite distractions from several issues that hit the Filipino fighter during his camp.

After weeks of distraction-filled training, Roach was satisfied that the Pacquiao managed to meet their objectives for the training camp staged in the Filipino’s hometown General Santos City. Roach said he is “happy with the results,” despite having disturbances due to Pacman’s political campaign for the upcoming national elections in the country, and the homophobic comments Pacquiao made that earned him criticisms among members of the LGBT community.

“We had a great month in the Philippines. It was a great training camp. We got 3 more weeks here, and we have to carry on,” Roach told Top Rank, reports Rappler. “It took a while to get going. But his timing and distance got better everyday.”

Pacquiao seemed to have suffered major distractions after threats of having his final boxing fight against Timothy Bradley delayed due to the Filipino’s political agenda. Pacquiao is bidding for a senatorial seat in the Philippines and a fellow candidate has claimed that his fight in April should be postponed until after the elections as it would garner the 37-year-old boxer to massive advantage in terms of exposure.

He was also the centre of controversy after an anti-gay slur that compared LGBT community members “worse than animals” over same-sex marriage issue. Pacquiao was a recipient of several rants coming from several personalities from different sectors, but the retiring boxer did not seem to have been fazed by any of the negativities during his training camp.

Meanwhile, Roach was not the only one who was impressed with Pacquiao’s training results. Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum was “very pleased” with how the former eight-division titlist looked after his preparations in the Philippines.

“This Manny Pacquiao is the best Manny Pacquiao I’ve seen before the [Oscar] De La Hoya fight,” Arum told Boxing Scene. “I just saw him hitting the pads and he’s using that right hand, it’s cracking as good as the left and that hasn’t been the case before.”

Pacquiao has arrived in Los Angeles where the boxer-turned-politician will conduct the last phase of his training for the Pacquiao-Bradley III fight set on Apr. 9 at MGM Grand Arena.

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