Roach still 'bothered' by Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, wants rematch

MANILA, Philippines – If there’s one person who is still finding it hard to move on from Manny Pacquiao’s loss to Floyd Mayweather in boxing’s richest fight ever, it is Freddie Roach.

For Roach, that fight could have ended differently had Pacquiao not injured his right shoulder in training.

"That [Mayweather-Pacquiao] fight really bothers me," the bespectacled trainer said in a report by Keith Idec of NorthJersey.com.

Roach is expected to arrive in the Philippines next week to open Pacquiao’s training camp for the Filipino icon’s fight with Timothy Bradley in April.

It’s a fight – something Pacquiao insists would be his last – that Roach is confident of winning.

Nevertheless, the multi-awarded cornerman admitted still being haunted by the ghost of the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas last year.

"I haven’t even watched it again because I’m just so [ticked] off about [it], because I thought Manny could’ve won that fight. … Manny thought he won the fight anyway, but I think he could’ve done a lot more,” Roach continued.

Pacquiao’s last-minute request to use anti-inflammatory injections was denied by the Nevada Athletic Association, which supervised the fight. Roach once again recalled Pacquiao complaining of pain in his shoulder during the fight.

"But when he came back after the fourth round and said, ‘My shoulder’s shot,’ I said, ‘Well, do the best you can,’” said Roach.

The trainer couldn’t hold back from expressing his desire for a rematch between Mayweather and Pacquiao, saying the lure of money would be hard to resist.

“He [Pacquiao] still thinks he won the fight, but I don’t. And I would like to get that one back," Roach added.

"I did ask [Pacquiao’s promoter] Bob [Arum] if it [Mayweather rematch] was a possibility and he doesn’t think so," Roach said. "But the way they both spend money, maybe they will fight again." – Dino Maragay