With 10 days remaining before Pacquiao gets the chance to redeem himself against Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico, the Filipino lefty also bared his personal feelings about his last two fights and why he was training this hard for his coming fight.  

Manny Pacquiao

"There were a lot of people who told me that my performance-level had gone down after my fights with Jorge Solis and Marco Antonio Barrera (last year). I realized that they were indeed correct," said Pacquiao, who had to labor for eight rounds before stopping Solis in April and was lackluster in outpointing an over-the-hill Barrera in October.

"I was not 100% in the (second) Barrera fight. I had a lot of things on my mind like politics and business, but this time, I am 100% and this is the toughest training I had since I started here at Wild Card."

Pacquiao said he is so prepared this time that he will offer no excuses whatever happens in Las Vegas.

"I know that this is going to be tough and this is why I am training hard because I don’t like to come up with reasons afterwards," said Pacquiao, who has lost only once in 12 fights on American soil since June 2001.

Pacquiao was so-so against Solis, who had an attractive record but was untested against topnotch opposition, and looked very ordinary against the slow-footed and faded Barrera.

"Even me, I am not satisfied with my performance in my last two fights although I won both fights and I realized that in 2008, I will have to concentrate on boxing as if I was still trying to make a name for myself."

In anticipation of a hard battle, Pacquiao also sharpened up his right hand and is confident that it could make a big difference.

"There is a lot of improvement in my right hand and we have developed it," said Pacquiao, whose left hand was the scourge of Marquez in the first fight.

Still, Pacquiao is worried about one more thing about Marquez.

"My concern is Marquez will run and I am worried about that because that would make the fight boring (for those watching)."

To remedy the problem, Pacquiao has offered an answer as quick as a Marquez counter-punch.

"I want Marquez to stand toe-to-toe with me."

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Notes: A press conference will be held on Monday in downtown Los Angeles with Pacquiao and Marquez in attendance. Afterwards, they will both proceed to Las Vegas. Pacquiao will travel by land, while Marquez will take a plane. Former basketball star Robert Jaworski dropped by the Wild Card and wished Pacquiao the best of luck. Spotted too was Apol d Ap of the singing group Black Eyed Peas. Tom Miller of Ohio has replaced Dick Flaherty of Boston as one of the three judges for the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch. He replaces Dick Flaherty. Miller, who earns between $ 1,300 to $ 3,500 depending on the magnitude of world title fights, will be joined by Jerry Roth and Duane Ford. The referee will be Kenny Bayless.