ATLANTIC CITY?Freddie Roach isn?t going to like this one. Try as I might, I could not induce all time training great Angelo Dundee to pick Roach?s prized pupil, Manny Pacquiao, to defeat Oscar de la Hoya.
I threw out a few leading questions but Muhammad Ali?s tutor did not take my bait.
?Can Manny win that fight? Dundee said. ?I don?t think so, I really don ?t. I love Oscar to win that fight, I really do.?
The crafty Dundee said?and this I disagree with completely?that Oscar will not have problems punching downward at the smaller man.
?Oscar has fought and sparred with so many smaller guys,? Dundee said. ?And Oscar has knocked them all over the ring.?
Dundee?s comments, while not surprising, made me wish Roach?s great mentor, Eddie Futch, was still around.
Maybe Mr. Futch would have a more optimistic outlook for Pacman. I like to think so anyway.
