Pacquiao doesn’t need tuneup fight, says Roach

Manny Pacquiao (left) and trainer Freddie Roach. AP FILE PHOTOS

When Manny Pacquiao returns to action, he will be up against a top-caliber foe right away.

Lesser lights are not on the radar of the eight-division world champion who is still recuperating from a right shoulder surgery.

Hall of Famer Freddie Roach said this when asked about Pacquiao’s possible foes when he resumes fighting.

Pacquiao expects full recovery in six months and should be fit to fight early next year.

“No, right back in the deep water… I think he’s got a couple fights left in him,” Roach told Michael Woods of ringtv.com recently in reply to Pacquiao’s fight plans.

Some ring pundits say that Pacquiao, who reinjured his right arm in a losing effort against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 in Las Vegas, needs a tuneup fight first, preferably against somebody suited to his style, since he will be coming from a year-long layoff.

Pacquiao now attends to his congressional duties and his constituents in Sarangani.

Through their Emmanuel & Jinkee’s Heart Foundation’s “Balik Eskwelang Handog” project, Pacquiao and his wife, Sarangani Vice Gov. Jinkee, distributed free school supplies and meal packs to indigents at the municipal gymnasium of Glan, Sarangani, last Tuesday. Roy Luarca