Freddie Roach may soon find himself in a bit of a bind.
If everything goes according to plan on July 23, Viktor Postol will be the new RING, WBC, WBO and lineal junior welterweight champion after defeating Terence Crawford.
That?s the good news.
But if Postol, one of Roach?s prized pupils, pulls off the victory, he?ll also likely punch his ticket to face Manny Pacquiao later this year in a huge showdown, as Bob Arum recently announced that Pacquiao would make his return to the ring on Nov. 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
That would essentially pit his top two students against one another and Roach would be forced to pick between the two. Obviously, that?s not the best scenario but Roach would have no qualms if Postol decided to take the fight with Pacquiao.
?If a big fight like that came up and he had a chance to make a lot of money fighting Manny Pacquiao, I wouldn?t deny him that,? Roach said during a trainer roundtable on Thursday at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino.
As much as he has enjoyed training Postol for the past couple of years, Roach would have to go with the fighter that made him a household name, Manny Pacquiao. It?s an obvious choice, but not necessarily an easy one. It?s something that Roach has been thinking about lately and tried to come up with a scenario that would make sense. There was a passing idea that Roach?s assistant, Marvin Somodio, could take the reins over for Postol, but the Hall of Fame trainer swiftly dismissed the idea due to the dilemma it would pose for Somodio.
?I?ve thought about that but Marvin is a Filipino and we couldn?t ruin his life,? Roach said with a laugh. ?I think we?d have to go in a different direction. Marvin and I would stay with Manny and Viktor would have to go with somebody else.?
Roach wouldn?t just leave Postol high and dry. He said he would do his best to find the right trainer for Postol.
?I?d make sure he was in good hands,? Roach said. ?He is a friend of mine and he?s one of my fighters that I do like a lot.?
As for Pacquiao, a number of names have been discussed for his November return. Roach confirmed that Adrien Broner was the frontrunner until his asking price essentially took him out of the conversation. There are also names such as Jessie Vargas, Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter and, of course, the winner of Crawford-Postol.
But don?t expect Manny Pacquiao to have a say in who he fights. As a matter of fact, he won?t even be tuning in to the Crawford-Postol to do some scouting.
?No,? Roach said to RingTV when asked if Manny had any interest in watching this weekend?s fight. ?Manny is not a TV guy ? He?s playing basketball right now and doesn?t do boxing until I show up.?
To drive home the point that Pacquiao could care less about what?s going on in the squared circle when he?s not in it, Roach went back to last summer when the eight-division world champion met the man that many consider one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world today.
?Manny took a picture last summer with Gennady Golovkin when he came to visit the gym. GGG was waiting for Manny to come out and take a picture. He took the picture and later when Manny was hitting the mitts with me he asked ?Freddie, who is that guy I took a picture with?? Manny did not know who GGG was.?
While it may seem like a slap in the face to Golovkin, the fact is that Manny Pacquiao simply is not in tune with what is going on unless he?s involved. Getting him up to speed on his next opponent is Roach?s job.
?Manny doesn?t care,? Roach reiterated. ?He likes boxing when he?s doing it but you have a much better chance asking him about basketball because he knows way more basketball players than boxers.?
