Roach prefers Pacquiao at 140 lb

MANILA, Philippines - When Manny Pacquiao said he plans to move down in weight for any of his future fights, the one person that paid full attention was his trainer Freddie Roach.

“Siguro 140 ang perfect,” Pacquiao told a handful of Manila sports writers after he defeated Tim Bradley last week at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The victory left no doubt who the better fighter is. But it marked the eighth straight fight over five years that Pacquiao has failed to score a knockout.

Pacquiao stopped Oscar dela Hoya in 2008, then Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in 2009, but hasn’t scored a stoppage from there on.

He was impressive in victories over Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley, fighters who are bigger and heavier than Pacquiao.

But again, the fact that he failed to knock them out has left people asking if Pacquiao doesn’t hold enough power as a welterweight.

Pacquiao fought Bradley twice at 147 and both fights lasted the distance.

The last time Pacquiao was in a fight that ended in a stoppage was in 2012 when Juan Manuel Marquez knocked him out in the sixth round.

Roach said even Bradley is way bigger than Pacquiao because in last week’s rematch the American climbed the ring at 160 after weighing in at 145.5 the day before.

Pacquiao weighed in at 145 and showed up for the fight no heavier than 150 pounds.

“He’s fighting these bigger, stronger guys. Bradley was at least 160 going into that ring,” Roach told Maxboxing.

It must be the reason why Pacquiao has failed to score a knockout since 2009.

And it’s also the reason why Roach said he might ask Pacquiao if he’s willing to slide down to 140 or even 135.

“He’s not a great puncher at 147 like everyone thinks. Everyone says he’s not getting the knockouts like with Hatton and those knockouts were at 135 (David Diaz) and 140.

“I’m going to ask him if we can fight at 140 because that’s a better weight for him. He has no trouble making 140,” added Roach.

Pacquiao said he can make 140 or even 135 if he wants to.

But Roach doubts if Top Rank chief Bob Arum would let Pacquiao move back down in weight because the biggest fights are at 147, not at 140 or 135.