Roach on Pacquiao-Mayweather: “I Think It’s Gonna Happen”

He’s a boxing guy, through and through, a lifer, it’s what he knows, loves, adores…it is his reason for being, is boxing, and so today, which is Thanksgiving, Freddie Roach will be at home, his Wild Card Gym, and the gym will be open for business.

Now, before any of you react with a sad “ohhh,” know this: his galpal is a physician, who is on call…so there will be sharing of carved bird, or whatever else they dig…but it will be done on a postponed schedule. (And for the record, being a semi-decent soul, I invited Roach and a plus one or two to fly to NYC, and hang with us for T-Giving.)

Roach was in the gym, shaking off jetlag from Macau, on Wednesday. I checked in, chatted, processed the Pacman win over Chris Algieri, talked Floyd-stuff, and more.

First off, Roach told me he had an idea that Algieri wouldn’t be among Manny’s hardest foes to tame. “They maybe thought they were fighting a guy a caliber of Ruslan,” Roach said. “But Manny is a different caliber than Ruslan, it’s a much different level of experience, a good kid coming up and then an eight time world champion. I told them, they didn’t listen, maybe.”

OK, so next…Danny Garcia? Or, gulp, Mayweather? Oh lord, can that fight get booked just so we can stop yapping about the possibility of it being booked!

“I’ve been talking to Bob Arum,” Roach told me. “And with Manny calling Floyd out, I think it’s gonna happen. It’s perfect timing. Manny looked good in his fight, Floyd looked just OK. And Floyd has no one else to fight! He had to fight Maidana twice! Arum told me he is gonna push real hard.”

So…when, I mean IF they glove up, at what weight would you think it would be contested at? Would Floyd, now feeling more comfortable at a higher weight than Manny, seek to have the fight at, like, 150? “I think 147 would be natural for them both,” the trainer stated. “I think Manny would be great at 140, but we would fight Floyd at any weight. If Floyd wants 160, we’d do it.” Roach made clear that the weight issue is one he accepts as part of the game when it comes to trying to gain any edge. “It’s his team’s job to try and get that edge,” he said.

Check back for more from Dedham Freddie, as he talks Miguel Cotto starting camp for, quite likely, a fight against Canelo Alvarez…

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