LAS VEGAS ? The ball is now in Manny Pacquiao?s hands, trainer Freddie Roach said on Friday.
Roach, who will call the shots in Pacquiao?s corner against David Diaz on Saturday, told a handful of scribes from Manila that while Diaz “looked relax” during the weighin, “it wouldn?t be enough to win this fight because he is up against a better guy.”
“We have to fight the right fight because if we fight Diaz?s fight, we?ll have a long night,” said Roach at the lobby of The Hotel at Mandalay Bay. “Manny must carry the gameplan into the fight. If he doesn?t, Manny will only give Diaz the chance to win the fight.”
Still, Roach was more than happy over the outcome of the weighin even if Pacquiao had to get rid of one pound on the night before the weighin.
“Manny overate a bit last night (Friday), miscalculated when he ate. But overall, he looks okay and very healthy,” said Roach, who assumed the role of chief trainer in mid-2001, when Pacquiao was on vacation and shopping for a new take-charge guy in his corner.
Since then, Roach has only missed a couple Pacquiao?s bouts on site but was present in all of Pacquiao?s previous 13 outings on US soil.
Roach will get assistance in the corner work from his Wild Card assistant Eric Brown, cutman Joe Chavez and Filipino seconds Buboy Fernandez and Nonoy Neri.
