LOS ANGELES ? Freddie Roach doesn?t see anything special in David Diaz. Except for one thing.
“Nothing,” said Roach when asked if there’s something in Diaz that Manny Pacquiao doesn?t have.
“Diaz best weapon is that he wins fights late, he breaks you down and he wears you down and he did that against (Jose Armando) Sta. Cruz. He was way down the scorecards when he won by knockout in the ninth or tenth round but he was losing badly at that point,” said Roach.
Despite Diaz?s reputation for toughness and tenacity, he is just an ordinary fighter.
“But Manny Pacquiao doesn?t get tired. So we are going to be right there with him. He will try to break us down but we are going to break him down,” said Roach, who assumed the role of chief trainer in 2001 when a still unknown Pacquiao walked inside the Wild Card in the hopes of finding a new trainer.
What about the possibility of Pacquiao wining the fight on points, Roach was asked?
“I don?t think so. I really want a knockout in this fight because we haven?t gotten one in the last two fights. Manny needs to be impressive in this fight for him to justify his (new-found) status the world?s No. 1 fighter and I feel we need a knockout and I feel we will knock him out.”
Roach?s bright outlook is based on Pacquiao?s performance level in the gym.
On this very sunny and blistering Saturday, Pacquiao went up six rounds with Nicaraguan Julio Gamboa and Mexican-American Steve Quinonez as the Philippines? greatest sporting figure jacked up his total number of sparring rounds to 136.
“The first guy (Julio Gamboa) went out and talked to him a bit and that motivated Manny and Manny was very sharp. Gamboa was the first to spar because he irritates Manny a little bit and I told him to talk as much as you want and he earned his money today,” said Roach, referring to the beating that Pacquiao inflicted on his Hispanic sparmate.
As Pacquiao goes into the final days of training, Roach has seen a steady progress in Pacquiao?s speed although he admits that he will not be as quick as before.
“His speed is picking up today and as you see he is better today but he might not be as quick at 135 lbs as he was at 130 lbs but still he is going to be much, much faster than David Diaz.”
Pacquiao, who is not only bidding to become the first Filipino to win the world lightweight championship but also the first from the Orient to capture four sanctioned world titles in four different weight classes, arrived here from Manila on May 12.
