Freddie Roach: “We both want Mayweather. All Floyd has to do is sign the contract”

Freddie Roach is one of the most well-respected and well-known trainers in the sport of boxing. He is probably most known for being the trainer for Manny Pacquiao. Many people feel that Pacquiao is pound-for-pound the best fighter on the planet right now and there really is not that much left for Manny Pacquiao to prove. He has made a ton of money, he’s made Oscar De La Hoya quit on his stool in his own corner, he left Ricky Hatton unconscious in Las Vegas and it seems like he will step up and fight anyone, no matter how big or strong they are. Two weeks ago he fought and dismantled Miguel Cotto, who went into the fight as the boxer who was thought to be bigger and stronger than Pacquiao. After winning the fight he became the first-ever seven-division world champion. However, despite all his success, Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach still feel like there is one thing left for them to accomplish in boxing. That is beat and shut the mouth of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Roach and Pacquiao have been trying to get Mayweather in the ring since he came out of retirement earlier this year and the Pacquiao camp seems more and more motivated to get “Money May” in the ring. It is a fight that boxing fans all over the world want to see. And why not? Mayweather himself has won six world boxing championships in five different weight classes, is undefeated at 40-0 in his professional career and for those that don’t see Pacquiao as the best fighter pound-for-pound, see “Money” as the best. It would be the best possible way to kick off the new decade in boxing.



Freddie Roach joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta with Morning Mayhem to talk about Pacquiao’s recent victory over Miguel Cotto, what makes Manny Pacquiao so good and whether or not he thinks a fight against Mayweather is in the future for his fighter.

On Manny Pacquiao laying against the ropes and showing his toughness against Cotto:

“That wasn’t part of the game plan, but he had it in his mind that he could beat Cotto at his own game. He said ‘I can take his punch.’ I said yeah, but keep that a secret.”



On whether he thinks Cotto’s corner did a disservice to him in the fight against Pacquiao:

“Definitely. They are a young corner. They’re asking the fighter if he wants to stop the fight. You just stop the fight. The fighter is never going to say no. He can’t, it’s against the rules. It’s against our religion to say no in boxing. The thing is, they should’ve pulled him out in the ninth round because he was in survival mode. When a world champion gets in survival mode, it’s over and its unnecessary for him to take the beating that he took.”




On what makes Pacquiao such a great fighter:

“His discipline and his work ethic are unbelievable. Some guys win world titles and become a little soft and a little cocky, but Pacquiao has not lost that drive. He has a country behind him, he knows when he wins it makes everyone in his country happy and so forth. He puts a lot of pressure on himself, but he really enjoys it. Somebody said there was a lot of drama in training camp and stuff like this, but you know what, we have drama all the time. It makes us tick.”

On whether they have talked about Pacquiao stepping away from boxing:

“Yeah, we talked about it. He wants to get into politics and stuff like that. I told him, we fight Mayweather, beat him, and it will be over.”

On whether or not he thinks Pacquiao could step away if he beats Mayweather:

“It would be the perfect scenario, but is it possible? Probably not. Boxing is a very addictive sport. Once he gets into politics and sees how tough it is and how many people he’s gonna piss off at making decisions and so forth, I think he will miss boxing and probably come back to it. I love when people go out on top and I would love to see him have the Mayweather fight and be done with it.”

On Mayweather’s comments about Pacquiao:

“Well, the thing is, (Bob) Arum called me and asked me who I wanted and I told him it was Mayweather, so he’s negotiating the deal. Manny just got over a hard fought fight and he should enjoy that a little bit and spend time with his family. He was on TV last night, he called Mayweather out. We both want Mayweather. All Floyd has to do is sign the contract. He ducked us last time, he picked (Juan Manuel) Marquez. He’s been ducking people his whole life. He ducked (Antonio) Margarito, he ducked Shane Mosley, we need the best fight and I think that’s the fight we need to make. When he asks for a 65/35 split, he’s politely saying ‘I don’t want to fight.”

On how much money is playing a factor in the fight not yet happening:

“Manny has an ego too and he feels like he should get the 60/40 split. That’s going to pose a problem, but the thing is Mayweather hired Golden Boy to negotiate the deal. So Golden Boy and Arum, I think they will get it done.”