Cracking the code

Trainer Bob Santos used to be a familiar face at the Wild Card Boxing Club that he got to watch Manny Pacquiao work out and spar regularly that he feels he already has the eight-division champion’s number.

Now the man who calls the shots for reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight king Mario Barrios, Santos swears he had seen enough of Pacquiao to realize that the Filipino icon will end up losing to his fighter on 19 July at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

“I’ve been there a lot of times and you know that Freddie (Roach). A lot of times we spent together. Picked up a lot of times from you. You know I was in there a long time,” he said.

“Every day watching him. Unfortunately, we are bringing a lot to the table on July 19th. Things I have seen in Manny Pacquiao. You know that Freddie.”

The multi-awarded Santos used to be a Wild Card regular more than a decade ago when he was still heavily involved with former world champion Robert Guerrero, who used to spar with Pacquiao.

Still, Santos, originally from San Jose, California, is not looking past Pacquiao, even if he is already 46 years old.

“We can’t underestimate him… we gotta be ready for Manny Pacquiao. He still has the experience. He still has the explosive hand speed. The last thing to go in a fighter is his punch. So we gotta be leery of that. And in this game, all it takes is just one punch.”

And that’s exactly what’s driving the men behind Pacquiao to look forward to a rousing return.

Coupled with his amazing hand speed and innate quickness, Pacquiao is a live underdog and not looking like cannon fodder for the young and sharp 30-year-old Barrios.

Ranged against a battery of young and tall sparmates, Pacquiao has stood his ground, proof that there is somehow some truth to his claims that age is just a number.

Since kicking off training camp in the third week of May, Pacquiao has been making a lot of heads turn, leaving just about anyone who gets to see him train and run the mountains convinced that the WBC 147-pound crown is going to change hands.

To offset Pacquiao’s obvious traits, Barrios, who has a six-inch height advantage at six feet, is also going the extra mile in training under the watchful eyes of the very outspoken Santos.

But oddsmakers remain convinced that it’s going to be Barrios’ hands that are going to be raised by referee Thomas Taylor when the dust settles.

But then again, this has happened many times before.

And when his back is against the wall, Pacquiao usually pulls off a big surprise.

His track record is solid as a rock.