Freddie Roach, the famed boxing trainer who continues to work as he deals with Parkinson’s disease, said Manny Pacquiao is so prepared and so ready to take on Floyd Mayweather a week from today that he has predicted a knockout victory.
Roach was named the seventh Eddie Futch trainer of the year at Friday night’s Boxing Writers Association of America dinner in New York. His brother went to retrieve the award for him. Roach said Pacquiao told him: “You’ll win that next year because I’m going to knock Mayweather out.”
Such talk usually does not come from Pacquiao, who takes a more straightforward approach to fighting.
“I’ve never heard Manny be so bold,” Roach said. “I was really happy he said that to me.”
Pacquiao hasn’t knocked out an opponent since stopping Miguel Cotto by TKO in 2009. Disposing of Mayweather, a brilliant defensive boxer, would be an achievement no one has accomplished. Mayweather hardly gets hit. Still, Roach sees a sharp boxer in his corner.
“I like where my fighter is right now. He’s in the perfect condition to fight this guy,” Roach said. “He’s faster than ever, punching harder than ever. So explosive right now.
“Ever since this fight was announced, he’s at a different level. He’s trained very hard. I’ve never seen him better.”
On Mayweather’s side, he and his father/trainer Floyd Sr. continually say they are approaching the fight as they would any other. For Roach, that’s a sign.
“I feel like they don’t want to be here. I feel they were forced into this fight by Showtime,” Roach said. “I really don’t think he wants this fight. He was forced into it by the public, the press and by Showtime.”
Roach helped coordinate the meeting between CBS President and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves and Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum that helped push the bout toward reality.
“All of our wishes came true,” Roach said.
The knockout wish of Mayweather just may be a dream, though.
