CEBU, Philippines - Even if the Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley showdown has not yet been made official, celebrated American trainer Freddie Roach has already expressed his concern over the 'dirty tactics' of Bradley which he believes could pose a major problem for Pacquiao if ever the two fighters will clash in the ring this summer.
After the proposed Paquiao-Mayweather superbout fizzled out due to the loudmouth American's unreasonable refusal of a 50-50 purse split offered by Team Pacman, the undefeated world light welterweight champion Bradley became the top choice as Pacquiao's next opponent.
Roach is looking forward to that matchup although he did not mince words in throwing a stingy verbal shot at Bradley.
“My job is to get him ready for whoever they put in front of me. I don’t negotiate the fights with him anymore. Him and [Top Rank promoter] Bob [Arum] do that and it looks like it’s Bradley and it looks like it’s going to be a June 9th date I hear. That’s fine with me. I’ll get him ready for that fight,” said Roach in a report by Chris Robinson of www.examiner.com.
“He’s a dirty fighter, well, he’s a physical fighter. He uses his head, elbows, so forth. Manny does have some trouble with that because Manny can’t retaliate. I tell Manny that if a guy hits you low, hit him back low, but he won’t do that. So, the thing is, it could pose a bit of a problem. But the thing is, his speed and his power should be too much for him. It should be an exciting fight as long as it lasts,” Roach added in the same internet report.
Roach admitted that as a fight fan, he too had hopes for the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout to happen, but said they couldn't not do anything about it because Mayweather is very difficult to deal with.
“I’m a fight fan and I wish it was Mayweather but the thing is, he calls us out and he’s all brave and then he asked for a 70/30 split. He knows it’s a deal breaker and I had to ask ‘Who’s really wearing the dress?’” Roach asked.
With regards to Mayweather's upcoming duel with Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, Roach said it's going to be an exciting fight worth watching for. “It’s a good fight actually,” said Roach. "There’s no other way they could have went to sell that fight. Cotto is a durable guy, he’s on a good roll, and he’s on a winning streak. Mayweather is a great counter-puncher, it’s a great matchup.” - THE FREEMAN