Roach predicts Manny will stop Rios in 6 rounds

MANILA, Philippines – Freddie Roach believes the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios won’t go the distance, with a knockout victory looming for the Filipino.

That is, if Pacquiao displays no signs of slippage.

The multi-tiled Roach made the prediction – something he used to nail in Pacquiao’s previous bouts – during a conference call with reporters late Wednesday. He had been looking forward to an impressive win by his ward, and that means no less than a knockout.

“I think Manny is going to outbox him and knock him out inside six rounds,” said the bespectacled trainer said, though not as confidently as he used to before.

“But it’s really hard to say until we see the fight,” added Roach, obviously aware of the fact that Pacquiao is coming off back-to-back losses, including a brutal knockout setback to Juan Manuel Marquez last December.

Roach stressed that it’s not enough for Pacquiao to just win in order to bring his career back on track, saying the Filipino needs to do it convincingly.

A mediocre decision simply won’t cut it.

“I think Manny will outbox this guy and end the fight early – he has more speed and power but that all depends on how the fight goes.  If Manny boxes a good fight and does well and he gets a bad decision then we’d have to sit down and talk about it,” Roach explained.

Roach further revealed that he’ll be keeping a close eye on Pacquiao for any sign of slowing down the moment he and Rios trade gloves in their Nov. 24 fight in Macau.

“If I see he is slowing down and slipping in the fight I will be the first one to tell him. We have an agreement that I will tell him that and he will retire,” said Roach.

“I don’t see him slipping in the gym at this moment and he’s doing really well. He’s fired up and anxious to get back in the ring and I see good things. If things don’t go well we will talk about retirement and going into politics full time or something like that, he added.

Roach and Pacquiao will head to Macau on Monday afternoon for fight week, and he said he has his ward right where he wants him to be in terms of conditioning.

“We are 90 percent ready. We have the game plan down. We know how we are going to fight Brandon Rios. He’s a taller guy and we have been watching the tapes of his last 10 fights. We have a great game plan and Manny knows how to fight this fighter and I believe it’s going to be a great night for the Philippines,” Roach ended.