LOS ANGELES ? Trainer Freddie Roach fantasizes about Mexican champion Juan Manuel Marquez turning into a slugger rather than sticking with being a counter-puncher.
Roach told a handful of Manila-based scribes on Monday night (Tuesday afternoon in the Philippines) that there?s no other way for Marquez to conduct his business atop the ring next week when he collides with Filipino fireball Manny Pacquiao in their much-awaited rematch at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
“I would be very, very surprised if he (Marquez) comes to us like he?s been doing in his last couple of fights,” said Roach during dinner at a Thai restaurant that Pacquiao frequents every time he checks out of the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood after training.
“I hope that happens but I don?t think it would because Marquez will revert to his old style because that?s the best way to beat Manny Pacquiao and Marquez?s trainer Nacho (Beristain) knows it,” said Roach, who will clear the gym of people once Pacquiao shows up on Tuesday afternoon for an eight-round sparring session.
To prepare for Marquez, Roach admitted that he still reviews the first Pacquiao-Marquez bout held in May 2004 over and over again on video and each time he watches it, it makes him realize that his fighter deserved more than a draw.
“Mostly, I watch the first Marquez fight but I also watch his fight with (Marco Antonio Barrera) and Rocky Juarez and Marquez has changed his style a bit to become more marketable but the things is, he would not do that against Pacquiao and he will still counter-punch a lot.”
Still, Roach is optimistic that there won?t be any controversial ending this time.
“I hate to predict a knockout because the guy (Marquez) got up three times the last time but I think we?ll knock him out this time,” said Roach, who turns 48 on Wednesday when Pacquiao holds an open media workout starting at noontime.
Roach said he?s “never seen Pacquiao so focused since the first Barrera fight (in Nov. 2003) and the training camp went very well as we had no distractions, no basketball, no gambling for the most part although he played some pool for HBO and Manny told me that he is going to dedicate this year to boxing.”
A sign that Pacquiao is determined to make a statement following not-so-impressive performances last year against Jorge Solis and Barrera was the fact that the 29-year-old southpaw “went 20 rounds with the punch mitts earlier today (yesterday) without rest and he won?t stop,” according to Roach.
“I am very happy where he is at right now.”
The weight?
“Manny left the gym weighing 133 lbs and he tipped the scales with his shorts. He is coming down slowly and at 133 lbs, he is still eating good,” said Roach, who was being asked repeatedly until the weekend as Pacquiao was reportedly having problems shedding off excess baggage.
Last week, Pacquiao said in a teleconference call that he was about 135 to 136 lbs after being weighed at 139 to 140 by a representative from the World Boxing Council (WBC) two weeks ago. At around the same time a WBC official dropped by the Wild Card, another WBC representative showed up at Marquez?s training camp at the Romanza Gym in Mexico City and witnessed Marquez weigh in at 133 lbs.
The official weighin will be held at on March 14 at a makeshift stage adjacent to the ring at Mandalay Bay.
