Manny Pacquiao suffered a little setback in his preparation for his forthcoming showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. after experiencing leg cramps. But in a report on USA Today, conditioning trainer Justine Fortune cited another factor aside from occasional pain in the calves and it involves the Filipino's champ diminishing motivation to train for the bout.
Fortune, who had been in Pacquiao's corner during his fierce battles with Mexican legends Marco Antonito Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez, believed the eight-division world champ is experiencing a little bit of fatigue after going through high-intensity training since they started their camp three weeks ago.
The former Heavyweight contender also addressed some concerns about Pacquiao's motivation going into the fight, but nevertheless vowed to push the Filipino champ to the limit to make him a well-oiled fighting machine come fight night.
"I would like him to get up and move around at least, get out the stiffness from the work we have been doing," Fortune told USA Today Sports. "He is not going to run, but we will make up for it with the work we do later.
"I make it hard for him but he needs to suck it up. Fighting Mayweather is not easy, either. There are always consequences."
Pacquiao's training partner and former WBC light flyweight champion Rodel Mayo insisted that there's nothing to worry about Pacquiao's mindset heading into the 'fight of his life' with Mayweather because the Filipino tornado is very much motivated to win the bout.
"For this fight it is amazing," Mayol said via USA Today. "I see he doesn't get tired, not like before he fought (Chris) Algieri, (Shane) Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez - then he took it easy. This time he is very motivated."
Pacquiao is putting his WBO Welterweight belt at stake against Mayweather, the WBC/WBA/ Ring Magazine welterweight holder, in a fight that will determine the best pound-for-pound fighter in this era on May 2 at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.