HOLLYWOOD – It takes one to know one.
While age may have caught up with Manny Pacquiao in his failed world title bid, former champion Gerry Peñalosa believed the boxing great over-trained in his fight against Yordenis Ugas.
Gerry Peñalosa on Pacquiao vs Ugas
The 49-year-old Peñalosa noticed Pacquiao’s lack of footwork, while the usual snap in his punches wasn’t there either.
Pacquiao admitted suffering cramps in both legs during the fight, which limited his movements in the ring, a sign according to Penalosa, that indeed, his close friend over-trained leading up to the August 21 title bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Isa lang ang nakita ko, parang over-trained,” said Peñalosa, who watched the bout live. “Kasi makikita mo yung gusto niyang gawin, pero yung katawan niya hindi makapag-coordinate. Walang masyadong lateral movements, yung side-to-side niya hindi ganun. Walang footwork.
“Hindi siya fresh. I’m not sure a. pero parang over-trained.”
He was actually puzzled why Pacquiao still had to jog at the Griffith Park a week before the fight and had to do 32 rounds in training.
"So parang walang time to recover," added Penalosa, Hindi ko rin alam a. Hindi naman ako conditioning coach."
Penalosa, a two-time world division champion at super-flyweight and bantamweight, knows the feeling and knows where Pacquiao is coming from.
He once went through the same experience and likewise suffered the consequences.
“Nadaanan ko rin yang maover-train,” Penalosa recalled. “Yung unang talo ko, naover-train ako.”
That was in 1992 when he suffered a split decision loss against Samuel Duran in a 12-round match held in Cebu City.
“Nung lumaban ako, nagtaka ako kasi lahat ng gusto kong gawin (sa ring), hindi ko magawa,” recalled Penalosa, who was 20 years old back then and five years before he won the WBC super-flyweight title.
“So na-feel ko yung naramdaman niya (Pacquiao) sa ring. Kasi ang dami niyang gustong gawin, pero hindi niya magawa kasi yung katawan niya hindi mag-coordinate.”
After his own ordeal, Penalosa said he made sure not to go through the same experience again as the Filipino southpaw went on and win two world championships before retiring in 2010 after compiling a record of 55-8-2, with 37 KOs.
At 42, Penalosa said Pacquiao should already be cautious in training camp while preparing for a fight.
That is, if Pacquiao would ever fight again.
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