Roach starts own fight with Arum

Freddie Roach said Top Rank’s Bob Arum should convince Manny Pacquiao to come to Los Angeles as soon as possible and train for his scheduled April 28 fight against Korean Injin Chi in Macau.

Roach told fightnews.com that Arum should "spend less time trying to get me fired, and more time trying to help Manny, getting Manny to the Wild Card, and away from the distractions."

Arum called Roach an "idiot" for agreeing to train Oscar dela Hoya for his May 5 showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. when the fight is so close to Pacquiao’s own battle with Chi.

Roach said the chance to train Dela Hoya, whose Golden Boy Promotions is locked in a legal battle with Top Rank over the promotional rights on Pacquiao, comes once in a lifetime.

"Bob needs to be working with me, not against me. Manny is my boy, and I am going to take care of him," said Roach, who will start training Dela Hoya in March in Puerto Rico.

Dela Hoya, according to Roach, is leaving the doors to his Puerto Rico training camp open for Pacquiao just in case the 28-year-old slugger would want to train there under the American.

"This deal with Oscar is a big opportunity for me. Manny told me it was no problem, and congratulated me. We are working out his schedule right now, and I’m going to make sure I get both men ready for their fights," said Roach.

Meanwhile, philboxing.com yesterday reported that the World Boxing Council has stripped Mexico’s Omar Niño of the light-flyweight crown, and has given Fil-American Bryan Viloria a chance to regain the title.

Niño tested positive for methamphetamine after holding Viloria to a draw and keeping the title last Nov. 18 in Las Vegas. The Mexican contested the test which was later on verified by the UCLA lab.

As the No. 1 challenger, Viloria is now entitled to face Edgar Sosa of Mexico for the vacant title. And for his clean record in the past, the WBC said whoever wins between Viloria and Sosa should face Niño next.