Freddie Roach: Our Game Plan Is to Win Every Round

Manny Pacquiao (C), trainer Freddie Roach (L) and promoter Bob Arum arrive for a joint press conference with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Getty)

Manny Pacquiao (C), trainer Freddie Roach (L) and promoter Bob Arum arrive for a joint press conference with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Getty)

Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddy Roach has a very straightforward blueprint to victory for when his guy fights Floyd Mayweather in their highly anticipated May 2 showdown.

“Our game plan is to win every round,” ‘Trainer of Year’ Freddie Roach said at the press conference ahead of the upcoming fight. “If we get the knockout, then that’s just a bonus. Floyd will dip into Manny’s power. That’s the mistake that someone will make against a southpaw. We have to win the first round and take Floyd out of his comfort zone.”

Roach’s charge Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) will face off against pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout will be broadcast by both HBO and Showtime Pay Per View.

After years of frustration and delays, boxing fans finally celebrated with the announcement that the long-awaited mega fight between rivals Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) and Pacquiao would finally take place. The two boxers established their dominance over boxing’s mid-weight divisions a decade ago and have been skirting and dodging each other for almost as long.

“I think that Floyd had a better chance of beating Manny Pacquiao five years ago than he does now,” Roach said. “Floyd’s legs are more shot now and he has slowed down quite a bit. I think we can take advantage of that.”

Roach, working out of his Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, has been in Pac-Man’s corner since 2001. Roach is an offensive-minded trainer who prefers his fighters press forward and exchange over practicing the approach of ‘ hitting and not getting hit.’

“Floyd says that he wants to exchange with fighters more now to make it a more exciting fight, but I think that isn’t true,” Roach said. “He doesn’t care about the fans at all and the only reason he has to exchange more is because his legs won’t take him out of the fight.”

Freddie Roach works the mitts with Manny Pacquiao during a workout session. (Getty)

Freddie Roach works the mitts with Manny Pacquiao during a workout session. (Getty)

Pacquiao will enter the ring on May 2 having easily out-pointed a game but overmatched Chris Algieri in November 2014. Prior to that, Pacquiao had defeated Timothy Bradley and Brandon Rios after being flattened in a sixth-round knockout-loss to nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.

“Manny is very motivated for this fight,” Roach said. “You have to take Floyd out of his confidence zone. Manny knows how to beat him. We will make the right move before we attack him.”

Mayweather holds an exceptional unblemished record and is coming off back-to-back victories over Argentine slugger Marcos Maidana in May and September of last year.

But Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum expressed complete confidence that his franchise prizefighter is in the best hands for the May scrap.

“I love Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach,” Arum said at the press conference. “When Manny wins on May 2, which I’m sure he will, I will have a great deal of satisfaction for the both of them. They will have done the work to make it happen.”