Happy campers

Those around eight-division legend Manny Pacquiao in Los Angeles these days are a happy bunch.

One of them is training camp assistant Roger Fernandez, the brother of Buboy Fernandez, one of Pacquiao’s longtime trainers, who is lending a hand in the buildup for the showdown with Mario Barrios on 19 July in Las Vegas.

“The training condition now is much better than before because the boss is simply focused on this fight,” Fernandez told DAILY TRIBUNE from their Los Angeles base camp on Thursday.

While admitting that Barrios has the clear advantage in youth, Fernandez insists experience is one vital factor in a duel between an up-and-coming and a seasoned campaigner.

Unlike in Pacquiao’s last two ring appearances — against DK Yoo and Ryuki Anpo — the Filipino icon was simply just playing around.

Not this time.

Barrios, 30 and younger by 16 years, is dangling the World Boxing Council welterweight crown, a prize Pacquiao badly needs to further boost his collection.

Having fought the last time professionally in August 2021 when he was upset by Yordenis Ugas of Cuba, Pacquiao is the betting underdog in the scheduled 12-rounder at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Since arriving from Manila on 17 May, Pacquiao hasn’t skipped a beat in training, showing up for roadwork the morning after he and his team landed at LAX Airport.

As he starts to warm up, Pacquiao has kicked off the mountain stage of his preparation.

He has began scaling Griffith Park, which formed a major part of his previous camp stretching back to his early years while training in the US.

Apart from the youth factor, also worth looking at is the edge in height of Barrios, who is listed as a shade under six feet.

Still, battling tall and rangy rivals is nothing new to him.

He mauled the 5-feet-11 Antonio Margarito to win his eighth world crown in as many weight classes.

Pacquiao also beat Oscar De La Hoya and Chris Algieri, both 5-feet-ten.