Manny Pacquiao flexes his muscle after training at the Top Rank gym in Las Vegas, Nevada two days before his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA/Inquirer/ See more at FRAME
LAS VEGAS—Freddie Roach’s belief that Manny Pacquiao should slide back to light welterweight was bolstered Thursday afternoon.
With the official weigh-in of Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. set just a few hours away, the Hall of Fame trainer took Pacquiao’s unofficial weight and was surprised by what he found out: Pacquiao was too light and would be at a great disadvantage if Mayweather does bulk up to 160 pounds on fight night.
“ Manny was down to 143 pounds yesterday, so I told him to eat a good meal and then we will do a light workout later today. Tomorrow, he will have breakfast in the morning and then get on the scale.”
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Roach is hoping that Pacquiao will climb back to at least 146 pounds in the weigh-in so that he wouldn’t look emaciated when he stands side-by-side with Mayweather, who’s expected to check-in at the exact 147-pound limit. Strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune shares Roach’s concern about Pacquiao’s weight loss.
Aware of Pacquiao’s rapid metabolism, Fortune wants the eight-division world champion to check in at 147 Friday and climb to 151 or 152 come Saturday. According to Roach, he’d been training Pacquiao for the Fight of the Century since the matchup was broached up in 2010.
“I’ve been training Manny for this fight for five years. We know all about him, we have covered all the bases. I think we have the winning formula to win this fight.”
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While confident that Pacquiao (57 wins, 38 KOs, 5 losses, 2 draws) will emerge triumphant over Mayweather regardless of the disparity in weight, Roach isn’t discounting the possibility of the Sarangani representative suffering another loss.
“If we were to lose to an undefeated fighter like this (Mayweather), there’s no shame in that,” said Roach. “ Floyd’s a good fighter, but he has picked his opponents. I don’t think he picked Manny. I think he was forced to take this fight.”