By John F. McKenna (McJack)
Five time trainer of the year Freddie Roach believes that his charge WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) needs to put on a dominating performance when he squares of against WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (28-0-1 NC, 12 KO’s). The pair will clash at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas on June 9.
Roach says that if Manny wants to again become the undisputed pound-for-pound king he needs to do that by clearly demonstrating his superiority in the ring against Bradley, who is undefeated. Roach was quoted in ABS CBN new.com saying:
“Yes, I do thing Manny needs to dominate, to get a knockout on June 9. We can’t keep saying Manny is the pound-for-pound king of boxing unless he does that.”
Roach made the comments in New York during the media tour to promote Pacquiao’s fight with Bradley. Roach went on to say that Manny has more to lose in this fight than Bradley and that he needs to preserve his status as the elite fighter in boxing.
After two back to back less than spectacular performances by “Pacman” against Shane Mosley last May and Juan Manuel Marquez in November, Roach believes that it is crucial for him to give his best performance against Bradley.
Against Mosley, Pacquiao floored Shane in the 3rd round, but then failed to put him away. Many boxing fans attributed that to Mosley running away after he was floored, making it nearly impossible for him to be KO’d. Against Marquez however Pacquiao seemed to lose focus and there were rumors of marital problems with his wife Jinkee. And for the 2nd fight in a row Manny suffered from leg cramping in the Marquez fight.
Giving credence to the rumors of marital problems, Manny has given up late night partying and gambling in addition to taking up the study of the Bible. Roach in going public with his comments about the need for “Pacman” to dominate or KO Bradley is in effect serving notice on him from his perspective that he needs to step it up a couple of notches in the June 9 clash.
Roach believes that Bradley has nothing to lose in what will be the biggest fight of his life. Bradley has already said that in his fight with Pacquiao, money is of secondary importance.
