Roach Prefers Pacquiao vs. Bradley II
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 11 Jul 2012
LOS ANGELES (PNA) ? Whoever Manny Pacquiao fights next, his chief trainer Freddie Roach wants his Filipino pupil to stay 100 percent focused in training.
?Manny was a changed man when we pitched our training camp in Baguio in preparation for (Timothy) Bradley. All the distractions that marked his training before were gone,? Roach said in an interview inside his Wild Card Gym last Saturday.
The recent Hall of Fame inductee was referring to Pacquiao?s doing away with his vices as nightlife, womanizing, gambling and even playing basketball and billiards right after his lackluster performance against Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez last year.
?But I want him to be more focused. especially if his next fight will be against Bradley,? he stressed even as he expressed his preference for the Pacman to face the undefeated American who stripped him of his 147-pound crown in a questionable split decision last June 9.
?Manny convincingly outpunched Bradley that night and I want him to prove that he, indeed, did,? the 51-year-old said. ?The judges denied us of victory, but that?s water under the bridge now,? Roach said on the eve of his departure for Las Vegas to oversee Amir Khan?s final week of preparations for his next fight.
Khan challenges light-welterweight champion Danny Garcia this Saturday at the Mandalay Bay in the Sin City.
?If the final decision is for a rematch, then I want Manny to emerge the victor more impressively. And what I mean by more impressively is via a knockout,? he said rather emphatically.
?He should decide the fight and not the judges. If the guy is down flat in the canvas, then there will be no reason for the judges to decide otherwise,? he said.
Roach said there?s no plan to change strategy against Bradley even as he reiterated that the Fighting Congressman from Sarangani fought the best fight since destroying Antonio Margarito for the latter?s light-middleweight plum in Dallas two years ago.
?All he has to do is be more serious in training by toning down on his religious activities while in camp,? he explained. ?As I have been saying, I welcome his religious involvement, but it should not serve as distractions like drinking, womanizing and gambling Manny had been engaging himself before.?
The four-time ?Trainer of the Year? honoree said the people who convinced him to join their congregation must realize that the Filipino ring icon is a fighter and as such need not stay up to the wee hours of the day in bible-preaching and memorizing verses in the scripture.
?If they want Manny to regain what he?d lost in that defeat, they should be the ones to make adjustments,? he noted. ?Manny?s very excited in his new role and very happy for his transformation that he should be guided correctly. People around him now should not take advantage of him?
Between Bradley and Marquez, the other fighter Top Rank is lining up to be the Filipino idol?s next rival, Roach said he prefers the former, precisely for Pacquiao to recover his status and reputation as the best fighter in this era.
?Manny beat Marquez twice in their three meetings, there?s no reason for him to fight him again except for monetary consideration,? he added. ?Money, however, is not everything in this world.?
?The most important thing now is Manny be restored to where he was before,? he philosophized. ?Manny?s not getting any younger. Soon he will be retiring. And before that time comes, all of us who love him must see to it that his reputation is intact.?
(Freddie Roach photo by Wendel Rupert Alinea)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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