Sparmate rocked by Pacman power

LOS ANGELES — Saul Bustos bore the brunt of Manny Pacquiao’s assault over the last two weeks that he expressed the belief that World Boxing Council welterweight champion Mario Barrios won’t be tough enough to withstand the Filipino’s furious fists this weekend in Las Vegas.

“Oh yeah, he carries some serious punch. I won’t be surprised at all if Barrios goes down. Actually, in a way, I am kinda expecting him to go down,” Barrios told DAILY TRIBUNE on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) after his last sparring session with Pacquiao at the Wild Card Boxing Club.

So impressed and moved by Bustos is that he is puzzled why oddsmakers have installed Pacquiao as the heavy underdog in the scheduled 12-rounder that will take place at the MGM Grand.

“I don’t have an idea why he is the underdog. I guess the age, but he has the firepower still to come out victorious,” said Bustos, almost the same height as the six-feet Barrios, and a holder of a 15-2-1 win-loss-draw record with eight knockouts.

Bustos also feels that Pacquiao benefited greatly from the nearly four-year layoff.

“Four years without a fight could have been a rest. He didn’t have any wear and tear. That inactivity could have been a rest. He has recovered, I am sure.”

Bustos insists that he lived up to his status as the main sparmate because he didn’t back down and tried to duplicate Barrios’ moves.

“Just bringing that pressure. Non-stop pressure. I kept bringing that pressure. Whether I was getting hit or not, I kept on giving that pressure to him.”

But according to Pacquiao’s trainers, Bustos didn’t have to go the extra mile by mimicking Barrios.

“He is a clone of Barrios. The way Bustos fights is very similar to Barrios,” said longtime trainer Buboy Fernandez, who gave Bustos two thumbs-up signs for fighting like Barrios during training camp.

Fernandez will call the shots when the bell rings with Marvin Somodio as his assistant and Freddie Roach serving as consultant.

Bustos won’t be far behind and his cheers would be one of the loudest the moment Pacquiao knocks Barrios out.