‘Healthy Pacquiao would have won’
Manny Pacquiao (left) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. AP FILE PHOTO
Even if Manny Pacquiao was hampered by a right shoulder injury when he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2, Freddie Roach insists the fight could have gone either way.
The seven-time trainer of the year even believes Pacquiao would have stopped Mayweather if he did not suffer a tear on his rotator cuff in the fourth round.
Basically fighting with one good arm onwards, Pacquiao was unable to unleash his usual volume of punches and dropped a unanimous decision.
This led Roach into wishful thinking of a rematch and a different outcome.
“I don’t hear anything about anyone making a rematch with Mayweather right now, but with two good hands, I think Manny would have knocked him out,” Roach told Herron of Fight Saga during the WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto’s media workout in Los Angeles for his title defense against Daniel Geale at Barclays Center in New York.
Though Pacquiao injured his right arm three weeks before the Mayweather fight, Roach said Pacquiao was throwing the right hook well, minutes before the bout.
Unfortunately, Pacquiao did re-injure his shoulder in the fourth round, making it difficult for him to corner and apply full pressure on Mayweather.
Pacquiao told Roach about the injury, but even then, the Hall of Famer didn’t know the extent of the damage. Mayweather earned the three judges’ nod Roach said most of the fans in the arena told him “we got robbed.” Roy Luarca
