BAGUIO CITY — Even at a low RPM, Manny Pacquiao remains a speedster.

After presiding over another hard day at the gym on Thursday, Pacquiao still managed to bring a smile on the face of trainer Freddie Roach, who disclosed that the Filipino pound-for-pound king is still far from being 50 percent in shape.

“I think right now Manny’s just 40 percent in shape,” Roach told a group of scribes who noticed that Shawn Porter, Pacquiao’s sparmate, managed to land some solid shots at his fighter.

But Roach allayed the fears of the scribes, many of whom had followed Pacquiao’s career and had watched many of the boxer’s past workouts.

“Manny’s just playing around,” said Roach, who remains unperturbed with Porter’s strong showing for the second straight time in sparring.

“We’ve had times like this in previous training camps,” said Roach, who, only last week said Pacquiao is in terrific form.

Porter, a 21-year-old middleweight prospect from Ohio, landed a few left hooks that shook Pacquiao’s head and succeeded in connecting with his piston-like jabs, but it wasn’t enough to take the thunder away from Pacquiao.

Displaying lightning-quick reflexes, Pacquiao fought back and gave Porter a taste of his dazzling speed and power early in the first round which the 2007 US Golden Gloves titleholder acknowledged as simply amazing.

“He’s the best, man,” said the 159-lb Porter when asked about Pacquiao’s chances of dethroning Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao, who tipped the scales before the workout at 153 lbs, also went two rounds with lightweight Urbano Antillon after the two torrid rounds with Porter and never skipped a beat as the 30-year-old lefty did everything in the gym except wash the dishes.

The next sparring days – which will be closed for public viewing – will be held on Saturday.

Thursday’s sparring was open to many spectators and media, many of whom had motored to Baguio to be part of media day arranged by promoter Bob Arum.

Arum revealed that if Pacquiao wins sensationally against Cotto, he will begin negotiations with the camp of Floyd Mayweather.

“It has to be 60-40 in our favor,” said Arum, who heads Top Rank Inc., arguably the world’s premier promotional outfit, with Pacquiao at the top of his stable.

Arum arrived here yesterday in time for the press conference, motoring directly to this city after landing from the Manila International airport.