Freddie Roach says no deal yet with Manny Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines — Freddie Roach wants to hear it from the man himself.

And not until he does, the legendary trainer yesterday said it’s not certain he’ll be back in the corner of Manny Pacquiao.

“The thing is, I still have never directly spoken to Manny,” Roach told SI.com after Pacquiao announced in New York he wants his old trainer back for the Jan. 19 fight against Adrien Broner.

Roach is not buying it hook, line and sinker.

The American trainer said he hasn’t spoken to Pacquiao since the bitter loss to Jeff Horn in Brisbane in 2017.

Roach admitted recently getting a call from Joe Ramos, now at the helm of MP Promotions, but felt there’s really nothing to it.

“I’m not going to make a move until Manny calls me. I’ve been like a father to Manny for 15 years. If he can’t call me, there will be no deal,” Roach said.

It’s Pacquiao’s voice that he wants to hear on the end of the line – no one else’s.

“I’d have to hear what the details are,” Roach told SI.com.

“You never know who it is coming from when you hear from his camp. I’d have to hear what he wants me to do, what he wants Buboy to do. Am I supposed to train him? Am I supposed to come up with the game plan? He has to tell me, or I won’t be there.”

During the first stop of a two-leg press tour for the Broner fight, Pacquiao announced that he wants Roach back in his fold.

But immediately, he drew the line, saying Roach will be there for supervisory powers while his childhood friend Buboy Fernandez handles the mitts.

“[Roach] can rest and just watch the training, and instruct the training, strategy-wise, advice some techniques like that,” said Pacquiao.

Roach was not called in when Pacquiao fought and knocked out Lucas Matthysse in Kuala Lumpur last July, winning the WBA welterweight title while scoring his first stoppage win in nearly nine years.

Stories have come across on the break in 16-year-old relationship between Pacquiao and Roach, mostly surrounding the Jeff Horn debacle.