(L-R) Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines connects with a right to the face of Joshua Clottey of Ghana during the WBO welterweight title fight at Cowboys Stadium on March 13, 2010 in Arlington, Texas.
Hall-of-fame trainer Freddie Roach longs for the day when Manny Pacquiao would make him look good again by proving his knockout predictions accurate.
Of late, Roach’s crystal ball gazing had turned blurry with Pacquiao unable to stop his last four victims.
Roach hopes Pacquiao will finally return to his explosive, fiery attacking ways and knock unbeaten American Timothy Bradley out when they tangle on June 9 for the Filipino’s World Boxing Council welterweight crown.
“I think Manny will have a spectacular win. The fans want to see a knockout. I want to see a knockout,” Roach told Boxingtalk.com.”
The reason for Roach’s optimism is the fighting style of Bradley, the WBC light welterweight champion.
“Bradley is aggressive; he comes to fight and will be fighting until the end but I think Manny will catch him coming in, and knock him out in the later rounds.”
Pacquiao, of course, thrives against fighters in the mold of Bradley.
In 2009, Pacquiao knocked out a charging Ricky Hatton in two rounds then halted Miguel Cotto in the 12th round.
After that, Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in 2010 and Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez last year were all able to last the distance against Pacquiao, putting some doubt on his punching power.
Roach wants his prized ward to prove that he’s still at the top of his game.
Meanwhile, promoter Rex “Wakee” Salud, a trusted friend of Pacquiao, belied reports originating from the Daily Mail stating that Pacquiao is offering Floyd Mayweather Jr. a 70-30 split, with the differential 40 percent going to the winner.
“That’s impossible,” Salud said. “It would be greatly disadvantageous to the loser.”
According to Salud, the ideal is 55-45 split with the winner getting the extra 10 percent.
Pacquiao, however, will likely agree to a 60-40 sharing, according to Salud.