LAS VEGAS ? Boxing trainer Freddie Roach said yesterday Manny Pacquiao will start strong against Juan Manuel Marquez in their WBC superfeatherweight title bout here this morning (Manila time) and unlike four years ago when the Mexican survived three knockdowns in the first round, he won?t get up once he hits the deck.
?I want Manny to remind Marquez right away what happened before,? said Roach. ?I don?t care whether Marquez starts slow or strong. Manny will dictate the tempo and put Marquez on the defensive.?
Because Marquez is a counterpuncher, Roach said Pacquiao will be unpredictable so the Mexican won?t be able to read what style to attack.
?We?ll use a lot of feints to keep Marquez guessing,? continued Roach. ?We?ll draw out his defense and measure his range. Our Plan A is for Manny to counter his counterpunching. If he comes forward, our Plan B is to meet him straight up which is what we want. It?ll be an easier fight for Manny if Marquez decides to engage.?
Although Marquez appeared to be more aggressive and less defensive in his last two fights, Roach said he can?t be sure what the defending WBC titlist will bring to the table.
?I think Marquez is slower than he was when Manny fought him four years ago,? said Roach. ?Maybe, because he?s slower, he has had to adjust to being more aggressive. But I?m not sure what he?ll do. My feeling is once a fighter changes his style to come forward, it becomes difficult for him to go back to fighting backward. Whatever he does, we?re prepared to deal with him.?
Roach said Pacquiao is physically and mentally ready to go to war.
?Without a doubt, Manny?s in the best shape of his career,? he said. ?We averaged about 35 rounds a day in training with lots of running. He did 141 rounds of sparring. He?ll go 12 rounds without a sweat if necessary. Physically, he?s in excellent shape. Mentally, I think he?s 100 percent more prepared than ever before.?
Roach brushed aside talk that Pacquiao wasn?t too impressive in his last two outings, stopping Jorge Solis and outpointing Marco Antonio Barrera.
?Manny babied both of them because he wasn?t challenged by either of them,? said Roach. ?But against Marquez, it?ll be different. He?s in better shape now. He?s very confident. We?ve got a game plan all worked out. There were no distractions, no elections. And when he fights Marquez, he?ll be wearing good socks and he won?t fight with a fractured hand.?
Roach referred to the first bout when Pacquiao fought with a blister in his left big toe because of wearing cheap, thin socks and suffered a fracture in his left hand after belting Marquez? head repeatedly in the first round.
Roach said during the past two weeks, he has been extremely busy at work.
?I start training Gerry (Pe?alosa) two hours before two hours with Manny at Wild Card,? he said. ?Then I drive 45 minutes to Pasadena for two hours with (Bernard) Hopkins. I get everything done, though. My brother Pepper, Eric Brown and Alex, our new conditioning coach from Colombia, all help out.?
Penalosa is training for his WBO bantamweight title defense against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin at the Araneta Coliseum on April 6. Hopkins takes on WBC, WBA and WBO supermiddleweight champion Joe Calzaghe here on April 19.
Pe?alosa leaves the US for Manila 10 days before the fight. Roach will fly in a day before the bout with cutman Joe Chavez and friend Billy Keane and return to the US the day after.
Roach said training Hopkins is a challenge.
?He?s 43 but I think he?s got what it takes to beat Calzaghe,? said Roach. ?He gets very excited and anxious in training. When we do the punch mitts, he goes crazy. Once, he cut me on the cheek and another time, he hit me in the stomach and I got the wind knocked out of me.?
