In a recent interview with ESNEWS, Freddie Roach gave some revealing thoughts regarding where Manny Pacquiao wants to go next. He mentions Manny having been interested in fighting Antonio Margarito for some time. “He wants to fight [Antonio] Margarito,” said Roach. “Before Shane [Mosley] beat him, he told me that he wanted him next, after Oscar. So he saw something that maybe Shane saw.”
But the man Pacquiao really wants, according to Roach, is Floyd Mayweather Jr. So much so that Roach (after some visible toiling with whether or not to say it out loud) admitted Manny would drop his litigation in order to make it happen. “He would drop the lawsuit just to fight that guy. Just win that lawsuit in the ring. That’s where I would like to win it, too.”
Evidence of Manny’s desire to fight Floyd seems to be a result of Mayweather having gotten inside Pacquiao’s head. “This is the first time I’ve seen [Manny] make fun of somebody in the gym. The guy’s under his skin a little bit. So he really wants it.”
But there’s still the matter of Floyd’s drug testing demands. To that, Roach had an answer as well. “We’re not going to negotiate with him on drug testing. That’s not going to happen, because he doesn’t run the sport. Again, that issue is gone. Any commission rule we’ll go with. Mayweather’s going to have to deal with that.” So it seems the line has been drawn in the sand. Will this prevent the fight from happening, considering the amount of exposure that will have been given to Mosley and Mayweather undergoing the USADA testing (it will most certainly play an important role in the HBO series 24/7)?
Roach doesn’t think so. He thinks Floyd needs Manny. “If he wants to make the money that he thinks he deserves, he has to fight Pacquiao. I can’t see him going anywhere else.” The cold, hard truth is that this is a two way street. Manny and Floyd can go on making their $10M paydays, give or take, but if they want to see the big dollars, they both are well aware that they need one another.
As to whether or not Roach thinks Mayweather is ducking Pacquiao: “I don’t think he’s ducking us. I think he needed more time to fight Pacquiao. I think he’ll come to the table after Mosley. If he beats Mosley that will be a good win, because he’s a very tough opponent. He’ll feel he’s ready for Pacquiao.” It’s an interesting angle not that heavily talked about. Floyd, in his post-fight interview with Kellerman after his Marquez fight (before the Mosley debacle) admitted he had some ring rust and felt he could do better. It is feasible that Mayweather wanted more time getting back into the game before taking on Pacquiao. It’s a possibility, sure. An explanation? Maybe.
As May 1st draws near, all eyes are going to be on Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley. This is not a walk in the park for Floyd, and Shane stands to earn the notoriety and respect he feels he never got earlier in his career. But try as you may, that little Filipino just doesn’t seem to want to go away.
Source: boxingnews24.com By Ryan Dunn
