If you want to see what Manny Pacquiao's been up against during his sparring sessions, check out rising 154-pounders Rashad Holloway and Shawn Porter in their upcoming bouts. Holloway will take an 11-1-1 record that includes five knockouts into Wednesday night's junior middleweight clash with Francisco Figueroa (20-3, 13 KOs), and Porter a 10-0 mark with eight knockouts into his Nov. 21, junior middleweight matchup with Jerome Ellis (12-1-2, 10 KOs).
Trainer Freddie Roach said Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs) has gotten steady work from the duo during his preparation for a Nov. 14 bout against WBO welterweight titlist, Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs), at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"We have some good sparring right now -- Rashad Holloway, Shawn Porter and Ray Beltran," said Roach. "So we are getting good use out of them. We got some fresh guys in there to keep Manny more focused."
A resident of Raleigh, N.C., Holloway, 28, will take a nine-bout winning streak into his fight with Figueroa, whom he will meet before what should be a partisan crowd in nearby Camp Lejuene.
A native of Puerto Rico who lives in the Bronx, Figueroa had won 12 straight fights, including seven stoppages, before April's fourth-round knockout loss to Randall Bailey.
Figueroa, who will fight Holloway on ESPN2, is a southpaw, as is Pacquiao.
Porter, 22, will meet Ellis at Fitzgerald's Casino and Hotel in Tunica, Miss., where the junior middleweight from Akron, Ohio, will be making his sixth appearance.
"Shawn Porter has a great left hook [as does Cotto,] and he's a puncher," said Roach. "We used him quite a bit with Manny and we worked on getting away from that shot. He worked out really well for us."
