Freddie Roach spent a little of his Sunday with Boxingtalk, and gave us his thoughts on Juan Manuel Marquez’s performance, and whether or not he feels Pacquiao vs Marquez is next. Roach seems to think another possibility is possible. Manny will move up to 135lbs, and take on Juan Diaz? Roach also informs Boxingtalk that the Jeff Lacy vs Peter Manfredo Jr fight is all but a done deal.
BT ? Freddie what are your thoughts on Juan Manuel Marquez’s performance against Rocky Juarez? Of course everybody is talking Marquez vs Pacquiao now.
FR ? Too bad Rocky got cut so early on in the fight. It was a big win for Marquez, he clearly won the fight, but not real exciting though. He still is a counter puncher, but that’s what makes him such a difficult fighter.
BT ? Everybody seems to think Marquez is next for Pacquiao, do you think that too?
FR ? Well he seems to be the front runner, but Manny wants to move up to 135lbs and challenge Juan Diaz and David Diaz. These are factors that need to be considered also.
BT ? Wouldn’t a Juan Manuel Marquez vs Pacquiao fight make more sense as far as money goes?
FR ? Not really, since they fought to a draw last time Manuel thinks he deserves equal money. The guy turned down 750,000 dollars for a rematch, then goes to Thailand and fights for 10 cents? He’s the one who didn’t sign the contract. We are not ducking him, if the business side of it makes sense, we’ll fight him.
BT ? So it’s your position that Manny clearly should get the majority of the purse if the Marquez rematch is to happen?
FR ? We are the draw, not him. They had to put his fight last night in a 7,000 seat arena, because there’s no draw with him.
BT ? Robert ?The Ghost? Guerrero called out Pacquiao, does that fight make any sense in the future?
FR ? Without a doubt, he’s sparred in my gym before. I have worked with him a little bit in the past, and he’s a great guy. He looked good last night, and with a few more wins and a little bit more marketability, I think that fight does make sense.
BT ? If you had to bet your gym on it, you would bet Manny is moving up to 135lbs?
FR ? Well I talked to Manny a few days ago, Manny said take the fight that makes the most money, and the most sense. We aren’t ducking anybody. Juan Diaz is talking about how Manny fights old washed up fighters. Well who has Juan Diaz beaten? Who has he fought? I will say this though, he is an up and coming fighter, and I give him a lot of credit. He might be more marketable than Juan Manuel Marquez is at this point, so we’ll see. I think that if Manny does move up to 135lbs, everyone else will too, everybody wants to fight Manny, he makes the most money. We need to see the numbers first before deciding on Juan Diaz. If it makes sense, we’ll move up and take his belt.
BT ? If a fight with Juan Diaz and Manny Pacquiao does happen, how do you see the two fighters matching up?
FR ? I think it would be a great fight because both guys throw a ton of punches. We have the upper edge on the power. Juan takes a good shot, so it looks like a great fight, on paper at least.
BT ? What’s Manny up to now?
FR ? Bob Arum invited him to the Cotto fight, but Manny had to decline because he has enrolled in a college business course in The Philippines. March 15th is our next date for Manny to get back in there. Whoever Bob Arum gets us to fight that makes the most sense, that’s who we’ll fight.
BT ? Let’s move on to James Toney, have you guys talked yet?
FR ? No I haven’t talked to him in awhile, I heard that he is mad at me because I said that I thought he should retire. If he doesn’t have the discipline to get his weight down, he needs to retire. James will fight anybody, and I know that, but he needs to get in better condition to impress me.
BT ? What are your thoughts on Joe Calzaghe’s very impressive win?
FR ? Yes, it was a good fight. I was leaning towards Kessler, but I knew the fight would be close. Calzaghe’s style is difficult, he puts great pressure on his opponents, he moves, he punches from odd angles, and he fought a great fight against a difficult opponent.
BT ? Calzaghe called out Bernard Hopkins, you trained Bernard Hopkins, what are your thoughts on that?
FR ? I talked to Bernard before the Calzaghe fight, and he told me that he would make his choice after the fight. The thing now is where, and when the fight would be. Would Calzaghe come to America? The American market is still number one in the world, and it would be a huge PPV fight. Whoever goes where, obviously they are wanting to get paid for it.
BT ? Does B Hop have enough left to beat Joe Calzaghe?
FR ? They would probably fight at a catch weight, Calzaghe is a champion for 13 years so we have to respect that. He beat mostly European fighters, but with Lacy and Manfredo Jr, and now Kessler on his resume, it’s impressive. He’s got a great fan base behind him, the fight would be huge. I am looking forward to training Bernard for that fight, if I get the call.
BT ? What’s the latest with Penalosa vs Ponce De Leon rematch?
FR ? Well we are trying to get that rematch done, but Ponce said that he wants $800,000.00 dollars. That’s an awful lot of money for little guys.
BT ? Manfredo Jr vs Jeff Lacy rumors? Can you add to that?
FR ? Well I heard that it’s no longer a rumor, I heard that this fight is going to happen on the Mayweather vs Hatton show. Peter called me up and asked me if I can help him for the fight, and I said no problem. Jeff is a dangerous fighter, so Peter will need to box. Peter has to be at his best to beat him, and I will help get him there.
BT ? Talk about the rest of your stable.
FR ? Well I got my Russian world champion, Dimitry Kirilov, I got Vanes Martirosyan, both of those guys are doing great. I think I am going to train Roman Karmazin for his next fight.
