“Shane’s a tough guy and a very durable guy. It would be a feather in Manny’s cap to be the first one to stop him and just prove to the world how much better he is than that other guy that couldn’t stop him, so I think Manny, we’re going to fight at a fast pace. I don’t know if he’ll be prepared to fight at that pace, but we’re going to force the action and we’re going to go for it this time. If it comes, it comes. I think Manny’s definitely the guy to do it,” stated world-class trainer Freddie Roach moments ago as he spoke to the media during an international conference call to promote Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming May 7th showdown with “Sugar” Shane Mosley. Although he made it a point not to mention Floyd Mayweather’s name, Roach made it clear that he wants Pacquiao to put on a better performance than Mayweather did when he defeated Mosley nearly a year ago. Check out what else he had to say about the fight, Shane Mosley, and much more.
Freddie Roach:
On training…
“He’s really motivated for Shane Mosley. We started running the mountains the first day of training and he’s been consistently trying to kill his body.”
“He’s just in great shape and this may be the best training camp we’ve ever had.”
On Pacquiao’s legacy…
“He’s achieved things that will never be repeated. 8-time world champion will never be touched; I think that will be secure for a lifetime. He’s definitely the Bill Russell of his era.”
On Naazim Richardson…
“I think Naazim is a very good trainer. He has experience. He knows how to get to his fighters. He brings out the best in people.”
“I think he’s a great trainer and it’s going to be a challenge for me to come up with a better game plan than he does. Again, he’s a very very goood trainer and I respect him a lot. That’s why I expect Shane to be at his best.”
On Manny taking too many punches…
“I don’t think it’s on purpose. Nobody wants to get hit on purpose, but when you like to exchange and you like to throw punches, you put yourself in harm’s way and that’s why Manny is the most exciting fighter in the world.”
“He does like to throw combinations and when you let your hands go, you leave yourself open and you don’t have that perfect defense. So with an offensive-minded fighter, you’re always going to have the other end. So, you know, we know going into this fight, we’re going to throw a lot of combinations and Shane’s going to come back and that’s why it’s going to be an exciting fight.”
On why training camp has gone so well….
“Since the start of the training camp, he’s been motivated for Shane since day 1. Usually it takes us a little while to get him into the flow of a training camp, but from day 1, he’s been on fire. I mean, we did 8 rounds of mitts the first day of training camp. He hadn’t been to the gym since his last fight.”
“We’re up to 16 rounds a day on the mitts right now and now I’ve got to start holding him back a little bit and that’s the hardest thing about Manny Pacquiao is slowing him down.”
“He hadn’t been in the gym since the Margarito fight. He had some down time and he was hungry for boxing again. He missed his job; his boxing job.”
On what he expects from Mosley come May 7th…
“We’re 100% ready for this fight. If Mosley brings his best, we’re ready for his best. I don’t think there will be any room for an upset, but in boxing, you never know. Styles makes fights. We’re 100% ready on our end. We’ve done everything we can to get ready for the fight.”
“We’re definitely looking at his best fights because that’s what we’re expecting him to be, at his best.”
On becoming the first to KO Mosley…
“Shane’s a tough guy and a very durable guy. It would be a feather in Manny’s cap to be the first one to stop him and just prove to the world how much better he is than that other guy that couldn’t stop him, so I think Manny, we’re going to fight at a fast pace. I don’t know if he’ll be prepared to fight at that pace, but we’re going to force the action and we’re going to go for it this time. If it comes, it comes. I think Manny’s definitely the guy to do it.”
On the fight…
“The first five rounds of this fight are very critical and the way we go about attacking Shane, it’s going to be a lot of thought behind that because if you just walk into Shane and attack him, you just walk into the fire. He’ll counter punch the hell out of you and he has knockout power.”
“I think all fights should end in knockouts so I’m looking for a knockout!”
