Roach ready for Barrera dirty tricks
LOS ANGELES – Freddie Roach is not expecting a clean fight because he believes that the only way Marco Antonio Barrera could beat Manny Pacquiao on Oct. 6 is if the Mexican fights a dirty fight.
“Fight dirty,” Roach said is Barrera’s only chance.
The two-time Trainer of the Year hinted that Barrera may need the services of a seasoned dirty tricks department when the two ring gladiators square off this coming Saturday (Sunday
Roach said Sunday he’s aware that the Barrera camp has gotten hold of videotapes of old Pacquiao fights, including that against Agapito Sanchez on
That IBF super-bantamweight title fight, according to Roach, may have exposed Pacquiao’s weakness to stay focused and stick to the game plan when the opposing fighter resorts to dirty tricks.
The ringside doctor stopped that fight in the sixth round due to a nasty cut on Pacquiao’s right eye caused by an accidental headbutt in the second round, and worsened by another one in the sixth.
In that fight, Pacquiao’s first following a stunning win over Lehlo Ledwaba five months earlier, Sanchez, the challenger, was deducted two points for low blows. Pacquiao was awarded the victory via technical knockout.
“Barrera can’t outsmart or outfight Manny Pacquiao. So what he’s going to do is he’s going to use his head,” said Roach the other day during Pacquiao’s training at the Wild Card Gym.
“But Manny Pacquiao is such a gentleman, such a sportsman that if gets head butt, he doesn’t ‘headbutt’ back. That’s just his nature,” added Roach, who will have Joe Chavez, one of the finest cutmen in the business, by his side on Saturday.
Pacquiao said he’s ready for anything that comes his way.
“Pinag-handaan na naming lahat (We’ve prepared for everything),” he said Sunday in his posh La Palazzo apartment. “Even Barrera’s uppercut and hook, we’re ready for them. I’m ready for them.”
But he refused to give Barrera a hint of what to expect.
“We don’t want him to expect anything. It’s a secret,” he said. – Abac Cordero
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