In a very honest and forthcoming video interview with Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s trainer discusses the thrilling third encounter his charge had with Juan Manuel Marquez. The interview was conducted after the fight by Top Rank’s Crystina Poncher. Roach admits he didn’t know that Pacquiao had won, and that he wouldn’t have complained if Marquez had gotten the decision. He also credits Marquez’s intelligence and style in the ring, and says Pacquiao has fallen into traps and made mistakes in all three bouts, and would need to do something else in the fourth fight, if there was one… and he’s not too eager to see that happen.
It’s all very revealing from Roach, especially since he was calling for Pacquiao to dominate and knock out Marquez in this encounter. Watch the interview below.
Here are a few quotes from Roach talking about the fight and how it turned out:
“Marquez knows how to fight Manny Pacquiao”
“If we fight him again, we have to do something different.”
“Manny doesn’t move in the right direction, Marquez dictates the footwork… that’s the key to fighting a southpaw.”
On Manny’s foot cramps: “Yea it did affect Manny in the fight a lot, but I’m not going to make any excuses.”
“Does he deserve a rematch? Yes. Do I want to give him one? Not really!”
On whether he knew Pacquiao won after the fight: “No, I had no idea who won that fight, it could have gone either way. If it went to Marquez, I can’t complain.”
