After a two-day hiatus coach Freddie Roach is back at the Wild Card Gym to look after his star student, Manny Pacquiao.

Roach was in exile, kicking himself out of the gym, until he recovered from colds.

Manny often tells me: "Bawal magkasakit."

Roach told us it was either him or Manny, and since Manny needed to train, Roach stepped back to ensure that Manny will not get sick before the big fight.

We saw Manny spar eight rounds on Thursday.

Boxing analyst Hermie Rivera said Manny connected with hard hitting punches, hesitating only to spare his sparring mates from getting mauled.

There have been talks that there is a trade-off between weight and speed, and that Manny's weight increase would mean him slowing down.

But there was no signs of Manny's slowing. In fact one of his spar mates said Manny's punches came very fast and accurate, so much so that, "sometimes you see black before seeing a punch coming".

If there was any slowing down, it's the gradual decrease in the intensity of his training.

Earlier Thursday morning, Manny opted out of shadow boxing. He just completed a few sprints and his ab circuit, even taking time to chat with his trainers.

Meanwhile, Freddie wasn't the only familiar face that made an appearance at the gym. Manny's wife, Jinky, already arrived from the Philippines.