Manny Pacquiao?s third fight with Erik Morales is going to be “the toughest of his life,” the Filipino icon?s trainer Freddie Roach told a boxing website Thursday.
Having dominated Mexico?s Oscar Larios through 12 rounds for a unanimous decision victory last Sunday, Pacquiao is now resting before another rigorous training for his rubber match with Morales that could last as long as 10 weeks.
“The thing about Erik Morales is that he is going to bring it. The third fight . . . will be our toughest fight yet, I know that,” the American trainer told Brad Cooney in an interview for boxingtalk.com.
“Erik is going to bring everything to the table, he wants revenge, and I do too. [Morales] wants revenge, but it?s rumored that he?s heavy and out of shape,” Roach added of the fight slated for November 18 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Erik is going to do everything possible to take this third fight, and you know what? We are going to do everything possible to take this third fight too . . . This is going to be the toughest fight of Manny?s life.”
Roach, who also recounted the “superstar treatment” he received from Filipinos while winding down Pacquiao?s training for Larios in Manila, said his star pupil would come over to his Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles 10 weeks before the fight.
“We are not going to rush anything, we will take our time and start slowly, and build a base,” the former Trainer of the Year said. “Six weeks before the fight we will hit everything hard, and Manny will be in the best shape that he has EVER been in for a fight, because you know what? Manny is going to have to be in the best shape of his life for this fight.”
Roach emphasized he is getting new, tougher sparring partners for Pacquiao, who would earn at least $4 million for fighting Morales a third time despite already handing “El Terrible” a 10th-round knockout loss?the worst beating of the Mexican?s career?in their second bout last January 21 also in Las Vegas.
Morales, who turns 30 on September 1, won a close unanimous decision in his first encounter with the heavy-handed lefty from General Santos City last March 19, 2005.
“I will get new sparring partners for Manny, and I am not talking about just regular sparring partners, I am looking for contenders that are willing to give us some good hard work,” Roach said.
