Roach insists: No fight if Morales is overweight

Celebrated American trainer Freddie Roach made it clear and simple. He won't let his prized ward Manny Pacquiao fight Erik Morales if the Mexican can't comply with the contracted 130-pound weight limit.

In a lengthy and wide-ranging interview with fightfan.com, Roach said they will consider walking away from the fight if Morales will be too heavy and could not trim down to 132 pounds or below.

"Yeah, definitely. We want to see him at 130, and the one thing I will say about Morales despite all the talk about it is that he has made weight for both fights. I know he's heavy but he's always made weight and been a professional about it so we expect he'll do the same for this fight," said Roach.

Pacquiao and Morales are bracing for their hotly-anticipated rubbermatch on November 18 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A major clause in the contract stipulates that Morales will have to pay Pacquiao $500,000 for every pound he goes over the 130-pound super featherweight limit.

If Morales exceeds 132 lbs., Pacquiao has the right to take home $1 million plus the option to either accept or decline the fight.

Meanwhile, Roach revealed their fight plan this early and that is to apply heavy pressure on Morales and keep the Mexican busy "every minute of every round.'

Roach, however, gamely admitted they are not taking Morales lightly as they expect the Tijuana-native warrior to come out at his best.

"We're going to expect him at his best. We won't take him lightly because we made that mistake once before and it's going to be a tough fight before it's over, but we will get him before the 12th round," said Roach.

"That's our game plan and we're going to fight a high pressure fight and make this guy fight every minute of every round. We're going to stop him at some point in the fight, but it will be tough the whole way up to that point," added the future Hall of Famer.

At the moment, Pacquiao is working out and getting ready for Morales at his hometown in General Santos City. He will leave for United States on September 12 to put up the final phase of his training under Roach.

Pacquiao is expected to be at the ringside when Marco Antonio Barrera defends his WBC super featherweight title against fellow Mexican Roack Juarez in a grudge rematch of sort on September 16 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.