Freddie Roach dreads the day when he finally tells the great Manny Pacquiao to finally hang his boxing gloves.
But the Hall of Fame promoter won?t hesitate to tell it to Pacquiao?s face if the Filipino star struggles in his comeback fight being arranged for early next year.
?If he doesn?t look good in his next fight, I think I would (tell him to retire),? Roach told boxingscene as Top Rank head Bob Arum gets ready to piece together Pacquiao?s return to the ring.
Arum said Pacquiao could see action as early as February or March but not later than mid-April to give the fighting congressman from Sarangani the chance to campaign.
It is rumored that Pacquiao, who turns 37 on Dec. 17, will run for a Senate seat during the May 2016 elections.
Pacquiao lost a unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather last May and is sidelined the rest of the year owing to a right rotator cuff injury that got operated on four days after the fight.
Roach took a wild-swinging Pacquiao under his wings in mid-2001 and since then has teamed up to score many of boxing?s most memorable moments.
Arum is looking at five guys as candidates to land a rich Pacquiao payday in Las Vegas.
On top of the list is British Amir Khan, who used to spar with Pacquiao.
Also being looked at are Kell Brook, also of England, Terence Crawford of the US, Lucas Matthysse of Argentina and even Pacquiao?s nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.
Marquez, 42, is back in the gym trying to gauge if he can still do it and his promoter, Fernando Beltran, has confided with Arum about the possibility of doing a fifth fight with Pacquiao.
Last time they fought in 2012, Marquez, bloodied and fading fast, sent Pacquiao to dreamland in the sixth round.
Reports from Mexico City, where Marquez resides and trains, say the master counter-puncher is not too keen on a fifth fight, reiterating that he has nothing to prove following the convincing way he finished off Pacquiao.
