Today may be Tax Day in the U.S. but that doesn’t mean Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is wishing undefeated Floyd Mayweather many happy returns. Just 17 days away from their May 2 welterweight world championship unification rumble at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Roach offered his own audit of Manny’s next opponent.
“I am so glad that Mayweather is big on Shots because he is going to be taking a lot of them from Manny on May 2.
“That is why he has been avoiding Manny for so long. He didn’t want this fight. He can pretend it was a strategy to build up the fight’s value but that’s not true.
“For once Mayweather wasn’t able to handpick his opponent. He was forced to take this fight — by Manny, the media and the fans. His excuses for not making the fight haven’t held water for years and Manny finally exposed him. Mayweather ran out of road.
“Mayweather may have been the ‘A Side’ during the negotiations, but once he signed the contract he became the ‘B Side’ just like he did when he fought Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez. That is why he prolonged announcing the fight for as long as he did. He wanted all the attention.
“Mayweather is a different ‘A Side’ now and you can guess what the ‘A’ stands for. He was late for his media workout leaving major media outlets scheduled to go live with dead air.
“How selfish is that? It doesn’t take a lot to figure out why everyone is rooting for Manny. Just look at which fighter has the most endorsements going into this fight and why. When Manny beats Mayweather it won’t only be about unifying the welterweight titles, it will also be a public service to boxing.
“Mayweather may be two victories shy of tying Rocky Marciano’s record [49-0] but I can assure you Mayweather’s party will end on May 2 and Marciano’s record will remain just that – the record. And Mayweather will forever be known as Mr. 47 and 1.”
Meanwhile, Roach also had plenty to say on this weekend’s Matthysse vs. Provodnikov fight. His fighter, Provodnikov, will be competing without Roach in his corner but nevertheless has prepped at the Wild Card.
“It’s the greatest match up in the world. You’ve got two guys that love to fight, two guys that are great punchers. It’s going to be a very exciting fight – that’s for sure.
“It’s the best fight and the best is what we need. This is what’s going on in boxing right now and that’s why everything is really happening in boxing bigger than ever at this point because of fights like this.
“The Pacquiao fight is very important right now but Ruslan is very important also. I work with him every day in the gym. He and Marvin have a good rapport together. Marvin knows what to do. He’s a very good trainer.
“They understand what I want and just because I’m not there it doesn’t make a difference. Ruslan will still fight his fight and Marvin will make the adjustments along the way. There will be no problem whatsoever. It’s not the first or last time this has happened in my life.
