NOBODY, not even members of media, will be allowed to watch when World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao starts training on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.

"Yes, the gym is closed except to those who have something to do with training," Wild Card owner and Pacquiao’s chief trainer, Freddie Roach, declared emphatically yesterday in an overseas call.

"That’s the reason we’re staging the most crucial stage of our preparations here (in the US). That’s why we’re here where distractions are little or none at all," Roach added. "Manny knows this. We talked about it while we’re in Manila."

Pacquiao, 32, who arrived in LA last Saturday (Sunday in Manila), agreed, saying he has to be more serious in his preparations five weeks before his 12-round battle with "Sugar" Shane Mosley on May 7 (May 8 in Manila) in Las Vegas.

"Our team, I repeat, is not underestimating Mosley. He’s strong, bigger and possesses the big punch that can spell victory for him," Pacquiao said, adding: "There is pressure because I’m putting my title on the block. But I can handle pressure as I have been doing before."

Roach said two more sparring partners–Rashad Halloway and welterweight Karim Mayfield–will also work with Pacquiao, along with Shawn Porter and David Rodela who sparred with the Filipino ring icon in Baguio.

"We just came from a tiresome travel from Manila and Manny can still be tired," said Roach, adding they will increase the number of sparring sessions as they progress in training.

"We expect Mosley to be at his best come fight time, so we will be doing everything, too," Roach said. "When we say everything, it includes eliminating disturbances we encountered in Baguio, no matter how little they were.

"They said Mosley is old, and is, in fact, a heavy underdog in betting (1-6). But that doesn’t make him less dangerous," Roach added.

Mosley is a three-division champion who has enough experience to turn the tide.

"As I have been saying, Mosley has a lot of ring experience and experience is knowledge. You can’t just beat a wise fighter. He knows how to fight and how to win. His latest so-called lackluster performances cannot be used to gauge the result of this fight," Roach explained.

"He’s got nothing to lose. He has everything to gain. That’s why he’s more dangerous. He’s still got the big punch that almost floored one fighter I know," Roach said, referring to Floyd Mayweather Jr.

"He had fought the best welterweight in the world and knocked out (Antonio) Margarito."

Eddie Alinea, Business Malaya Insight