Freddie Roach: "We want the biggest challenge out there. And that's Floyd Mayweather"
INTERVIEW By Gabriel Montoya, DoghouseBoxing.com (Dec 15, 2008) Photo © Laura De La Torre  
Following his recent triumph training Manny Pacquiao to dominate Oscar De La Hoya, I caught up with trainer Freddie Roach at his Wild Card gym. Always busy and always ready to talk, Freddie spoke briefly regarding Pacquiao's immediate plans and his desire for a pound for pound showdown with Pound for Pound Champion Emeritus Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Gabriel Montoya:  The business of Oscar is all done. We're talking about two fights. We talked before about the
PROGRESSION of Oscar, then Hatton, then Floyd. What's the status of that now?

Freddie Roach: Floyd's making nose about comin' out of retirement. I think that's a bigger fight. That's pound for pound kings goin' at. At each other. Hatton got knocked out by Floyd so . . . we want the biggest challenge out there. And that's Floyd.

GM:  Has his camp made any intimations to you?

FR
Yeah they've made a little noise. Floyd said he's going to come back and have both Roger and his father train him. But how true that is I don't know. How long that will last, I'm not sure (Laughs). Maybe a day.

GM: Maybe the turmoil will be good for you guys.

FR: 
Yeah. (Laughs) Floyd's been off for awhile. He struggled to beat Oscar and we dominated Oscar So I think we'll be favored going into the fight and I look forward to it.

GM: How do you see that fight playing out? More of a chess match? Will it last all the way down? Or a knockout? Do you guys think you could knock out Floyd?

FR:
You know, Floyd? He doesn't like pressure. One fight where I thought he lost was the fight with Castillo the first time. We'll pressure him. If he lays on the ropes with Pacquiao we'll beat the shit out of him on the ropes. He's not getting away with rolling the shoulders and so forth. We'll use our strength and out speed to deal with him. I know he's fast,also. But I think we go the upper hand on speed and I think we're a more powerful puncher. The only concern right now is the weight. I don't think we're going to fight at 147. Possibly, though. I'd like to fight at a catch weight of 143-144.

GM: Now if that fight doesn't materialize, what's your time line to get Manny back in the ring?

FR:
I want him to take the whole month of December off. We're going to start back in training in January. So we want to fight by the end of March.

GM: Now if you can't get Mayweather, would Hatton still be an option for you?

FR: 
He's definitely an option but you know, he's definitely second to Floyd. You know Bradley's an option. He's been making some noise. He's a champion. Manny told me he wants to collect some belts at 140. So we'll see.

Comments/disputes/questions?e-mail
Gabriel at:
Coyotefeather@gmail.com .



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