Freddie Roach believes super-featherweight contender Humberto Soto poses a stiffer challenge for Manny Pacquiao than current world champion Juan Manuel Marquez.
This was Roach’s reaction in yesterday’s press conference to promote Soto’s upcoming bout versus Bobby Pacquiao on June 9 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
“Soto is the next best fighter after Manny and is more dangerous than Marquez,” said Roach.
The 27-year-old Soto fights under Top Rank Inc. owned by veteran promoter Bob Arum.
It is widely believed that Arum is pairing Soto against the younger Pacquiao, confident that the Mexican will prevail in emphatic fashion.
After his bitter defeat in his congressional bid, the boxing superstar asked Arum to set a September outing in the United States.
The 26-year-old Pacquiao, however, warned Soto of not taking him lightly in their nontitle encounter a week from now.
“I’m really prepared for this fight. I’ll take care of him,” said Pacquiao in the press conference held at the El Paseo Inn in Los Angeles.
The younger Pacquiao is being trained by Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. They are set to leave for New York on June 4.
The Tijuana-native Soto has a record of 41 wins, five losses and two draws with 25 knockouts.
Since his 12-round defeat to former world champion Kevin Kelley in 2002, Soto racked up 18 wins in his last 19 fights, 13 by knockout.
Soto fought recent Pacquiao victim Jorge Solis to a no-contest decision after their bout was stopped in the third round because of a serious cut in Solis’s eyelid two years ago.
Soto was once a World Boxing Council interim featherweight champion when he decisioned former Olympian Rocky Juarez in August 2005.
Juarez twice lost to three-division world champion Marco Antonio Barrera in a WBC superfeatherweight title bout.
In the same press conference, Soto disclosed his readiness to take the place of Pacquiao for the mandatory title bout versus Marquez.
Pacquiao recently informed the WBC about his decision not to pursue his mandatory title fight against Marquez.
However one faction of Team Pacquiao wants the boxer to take back his decision and still consider Marquez as his next opponent.
Arum, who is Pacquiaos current recognized promoter, is still in search for the Filipino fighters next foe.
Though Pacquiao has long established his superstardom in the sport, his managerial situation is not as smooth as his career inside the ring as the General Santos City native fighter is currently enmeshed in a bitter legal dispute.
Pacquiao’s promotional deal is still being litigated in two separate courts in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
Pacquiao entered into a seven-fight deal with GBP September of last year.
After his three-round conquest of Erik Morales late last year, Pacquiao signed a similar promotional deal with Top Rank with a reported $1-million dollar bonus.
Pacquiao is scheduled to leave today for Los Angeles together with wife Jinky and two of their kids.
The Pacquiao family will first proceed to Orlando to for a brief respite before enplaning for New York.
Pacquiao is set to receive the Edward J. Neil trophy as 2006 Fighter of the Year award from the prestigious Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) on June 8 at the Copacabana.
