The seemingly harmless rattan stick that has struck fear among many fighters training at the Wild Card Boxing Club is back in use.

The fellow who’s been receiving those painful strikes on the abdomen and arms is Manny Pacquiao, who believes he will need its tried and tested effects when he battles the youthful champion Mario Barrios for the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight crown on 19 July at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Not that Pacquiao is desperate to acquire its powers because he had been subjected to its tormenting ways the last two decades under Australian strength coach Justin Fortune, who introduced it to the eight-division legend in 2003 when they were bracing for Marco Antonio Barrera.

“Its effect is mainly psychological. For mind set,” explained training assistant Roger Fernandez, who lends a hand in the daily sessions at the gym.

At first look, the repeated striking seems a normal hit.

But as the striking becomes more and more frequent and the length of continuous beat lasting longer and longer, the pain builds up until Pacquiao starts to grimace in pain, his facial features showing utmost agony and suffering.

And when the beating stops, he gets a temporary sigh of relief from Fortune’s constant pummeling.

But before he could put a smile back on his face, the strikes begin again and the dreaded cycle continues.

The frequency of this routine is becoming more often as Pacquiao is in the final phase of his buildup for Barrios, a 30-year-old puncher from Texas who doesn’t have anything to gain if he beats the comebacking 46-year-old and everything to lose the moment he ends up getting beat.

But Barrios is not looking at Pacquiao as a low-threat individual but somebody who will be at his best, fast and furious the way he had always been.

“I am looking to go out there and showcase my skill and use any advantage I have to get my hand raised at the end of the fight,” said Barrios, who enters the ruing with a 29-2-1 win-loss-draw card with 18 knockouts.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, answers the bell carrying a 62-8-2 mark with 39 knockouts, confident that he will turn back the hands of time once again.

The vibe at his Los Angeles training camp oozes with optimism.

He hasn’t skipped a beat in training and is getting that same old feeling.

“You ought to see him train at the gym,” Fernandez said.

“Easy, easy. He’s doing good,” he told the interviewer from Manila who sounded nervous since the fight is just less than three weeks away.