Pending a last-minute change, the voice everyone’s going to hear in Manny Pacquiao’s corner in the rematch with Floyd Mayweather in September will be that of longtime trainer and childhood pal Buboy Fernandez.
Pacquiao, 47, made the statement when he welcomed Fernandez to his Forbes Park home in Makati City a couple of days ago.
“Buboy,” Pacquiao said to an answer posed by this writer early Wednesday morning as to who will call the shots in the Mayweather rematch set 19 September at the Las Vegas Sphere.
That made Fernandez smile because he had long wanted to assume the full-time chief trainer’s role during a fight.
Fernandez had long been Freddie Roach’s lead assistant starting when the Filipino cornerman made his US debut in June 2002 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee.
So thrilled was Fernandez over Pacquiao’s latest remarks that he immediately discussed with the Hall of Famer plans for training camp in the United States.
“What we need is a longer training camp given Manny’s age,” said Fernandez.
For the Mario Barrios fight last July, Pacquiao had barely eight weeks to get ready and yet, he almost dethroned Barrios when the fight was ruled a draw.
“We will train three and a half months because times are different now,” said Fernandez, adding that Brickhouse Boxing Club in North Hollywood could take the place of Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club.
Even Pacquiao admitted that his buildup for Barrios was not enough given that he set up camp just a week after the national elections and that he had to miss a couple of days in June because of his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.
Mayweather, who turned 49 last Tuesday, defeated Pacquiao when they rumbled in May 2015 on a unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Though retired from the fight game since 2017, Mayweather remains active in shape, having engaged in several exhibition matches the past several years.
Owing to his reputation, oddsmakers have installed him as the favorite in the second meeting with Pacquiao.
Listed as -175 ($175 bet wins $100), Mayweather brings to the ring an unblemished 5-0-0 win-loss-draw record.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, is +150 ($100 wins $150) and answers the bell with a 62-8-3 mark with 39 knockouts.