Roach: Pacquiao good for 2 more fights
FILE – Boxer Manny Pacquiao, left, of the Philippines, and his trainer Freddie Roach share a laugh as they look at a speed bag showing an images of Floyd Mayweather Jr., a gift from lawyer Robert Shapiro, background center, Monday, April 13, 2015, in Los Angeles. Pacquiao will face Mayweather Jr. in a welterweight boxing match in Las Vegas on May 2. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
HOLLYWOOD — Freddie Roach has a long standing pact with Manny Pacquiao.
The seven-time trainer of the year would tell his prized ward to retire if he sees Pacquiao on the wane.
Pacquiao beat him to the punch, prematurely announcing that he’s hanging up his gloves after his showdown with Timothy Bradley.
According to Roach, Pacquiao is good for a couple of more fights.
“There’s at least two more fights in him after this (Bradley fight),” said Roach.
Though Roach admitted that it took Pacquiao longer than usual to reach peak shape this time, he said it’s natural for an older fighter.
What’s important, according to Roach, is Pacquiao peaked before the April 9 tussle.
A former boxer himself, Roach said the first to go for a boxer is the legs.
And with the way Pacquiao has been running and enhancing his footwork, telling him to retire didn’t even come on Roach’s mind yet.
Fact is, Roach feels that Pacquiao will bow out of the ring in style.
“I won’t be surprise if he stops Bradley,” said Roach in Wednesday’s media day. “He can and he should.”
Roach, of course, is aware that the 32-year-old Bradley is going to be a tough opponent and predicted a “very tactical fight.”
And if Pacquiao wins, Roach wants to dissuade him from leaving the ring altogether.
“There’s nobody in there he’d duck,” said Roach, who’s agreeable to Pacquiao moving up to 154 pounds again to do battle against Mexican icon Canelo Alvarez.
Pacquiao ruled that division when he sent another Mexican, Antonio Margarito, into retirement.
Margarito was five inches taller than Pacquiao and checked in for the bout held in San Antonio,Texas, 18 pounds heavier.
Other than Alvarez, Roach wants Pacquiao to have a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, who won in their showdown in May last year.
