MANILA, Philippines - The hottest tandem in boxing today is not too hot on this Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Juan Manuel Marquez match in Las Vegas.
“I’m not really excited about this fight, to be honest, because it’s between two counter- punchers,” Roach told sportinglife.com.
“Styles make fights and, as a matchmaker, I think it’s a poor choice. But I’m not the matchmaker so it’s not my fault,” said Roach.
Like his trainer, Manny Pacquiao said today’s battle at the MGM Grand may turn out to be a fight that will soon be forgotten by the fans.
“Baka boring,” said Pacquiao from the Wild Card Gym in Parañaque where he’s been training two days now for his Nov. 14 fight with Miguel Cotto.
‘They are both counter-punchers. It will be a waiting game,” said the reigning pound-for-pound champion who, however, favors Mayweather.
“He has the speed. So he has the advantage. When it gets boring, Marquez will come in and might get hit,” he said.
Pacquiao said in Los Angeles a few days back that a fight with Mayweather is in the horizon especially if they both win their matches.
Pacquiao even said talks are on, and if the fight pushes through, he stands to receive at least $25 million for his biggest fight ever.
“I like Mayweather to win on a decision, although it might be a boring fight because they are both naturally counter-punchers,” Roach told Reuters.
Ticket sales to the Mayweather-Marquez fight went slow while those for the Pacquiao-Cotto showdown moved faster with still two months left.
Pacquiao was at the gym yesterday at around 1 p.m. and stayed longer than he did the other day when he trained for 90 minutes.
“He moved better just after two days at the gym. He ran in the morning then worked out at the gym for two hours,” said Roger Fernandez who, for the meantime, is looking over the training.
Pacquiao should be in Baguio today or anytime soon for the hard grind, and is expected to hook up with Roach and his conditioning coach, Alex Ariza, in a few days.