MANILA, Philippines – If Freddie Roach would have his way, he’ll pick Robert Guerrero as Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent for the Filipino’s April 12 fight in Las Vegas.
Although it has been reported that Pacquiao is eyeing a rematch with Timothy Bradley for his ring return, Roach believes knocking out Guerrero – a previous victim of Floyd Mayweather Jr. – will put them in a better position for a showdown with the pound-for-pound king.
“There's a couple of other guys out there right now that I'm thinking about that are free agents. You look at Mayweather's last like four fights and so forth, if we can fight one of those guys that he went the distance with and knock that person out and be impressive, it puts us even closer to Mayweather because that's the fight we really want eventually,†Roach said in an interview with boxing website secondsout.com.
Guerrero (31-2-1, with 18 knockouts), who has won titles at feather, super featherweight, lightweight and welterweight, tried but failed to deal Mayweather his first career loss in May last year. He used to spar with Pacquiao, and Roach thinks a fight between them could be a barnburner.
“[Robert] Guerrero has sparred with Manny many times and he thinks he gets the best of Manny. He's made that public before that he used to beat Manny up in sparring. I see it a different way, but I would love that fight and I think it's a great fight,†the bespectacled trainer explained.
“Pacman†versus “The Ghost†(Guerrero’s monicker) sounds good as a promotional title – a reference to the classic video game Pacman – and the multi-awarded cornerman is confident that a knockout win for his ward would set up a showdown with Mayweather.
“You know, he [Guerrero] went the distance with Mayweather and I think if Manny knocks him out, it puts us even closer to the Mayweather fight,†he stressed.
Pacquiao, for his part, has accepted the fact that a fight between him and Mayweather isn’t happening anytime soon and instead is pushing for a second meeting with Bradley, who defeated him in controversial fashion in 2012.
Roach says he’s also fine with that.
“He wants it [Bradley rematch] because he felt he got a bad decision last one. We like that fight of course, but the thing is, it's not a big moneymaker,†he added.
Roach himself said he would vouch for a Mayweather fight in September, something a Bradley rematch could never overtake.
“I don't think Manny really cares about that [Bradley] fight because the fight he talks about mostly with me right now is Mayweather,†he ended.