While the rest of the nation was shrieking over Manny Pacquiao’s 12-round win over Oscar Larios of Mexico last Sunday, Roach was a bit disappointed that Pacquiao did not follow the gameplan to the letter.
“A six,” said Roach when asked about the performance of his star pupil at the Big Dome. “Larios hurt Manny and went right after him well. He tried to finish off Manny and Manny recovered well. Manny was hurt for a moment and he caught Manny sleeping on the ropes. I was worried a little bit.”
Roach, who has been Pacquiao’s strategist since mid-2001, told Pacquiao later that “he should stay away from the ropes and that he should fight Larios in the middle of the ring and box him.”
“I really didn’t think Manny started fighting until the sixth round because he was trying to put on a show for his fans,” he said.
Asked why there were no fireworks from Pacquiao in the first few rounds, Roach said Pacquiao obviously had other things in mind.
“Well, my plan was for Manny to start quick but not maybe Manny’s. He did not turn up the notch until the sixth round because that’s when I knew he was in control of the fight.”
Still, Roach believes that after he views the fight on tape, he might even rate Pacquiao’s win over Larios “a six, seven or even eight.”
“I might be too hard on Manny (by giving him a six) but I would like to watch the fight on tape because it’s different (when you watch it live). I maybe jumping the gun on him but Manny was in shape and my guy did not get tired like people said he would and my guy was in shape and he was fresh as a daisy,” said Roach.
