Now that the Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao fiasco is behind us, news times bring new challenges for both champions.
Mayweather Jr. has decided to face Andre Berto in his supposed career closing bout, which sprouted an avalanche of understandable criticism. In his decision, Mayweather Jr. likely deflated his earnings by a very considerable amount, and lost admiration from many fans.
For Pacquiao, who wants to continue his career claiming that his desire to fight is as strong as ever, there is also a lack of admirable opposition. Nonetheless, there are plenty of big name fighters that he could face that pose very little risk to the Filipino sensation.
“I want Danny Garcia, that’s my choice. That’s the easiest fight in the f****** world, you can tell his dad that as well. His dad psyched Amir Khan out but he won’t psych Pacquiao out I promise. Pacquiao will knock Garcia out,” stated Freddie Roach in a recent interview with BoxingNewsOnline.net.
Of all the things that Roach has ever said about the future outcome of Pacquiao’s fights, he might finally be on the dot in on one. Not to take anything away from Danny Garcia, but Pacquiao facing Garcia is no different that Mayweather Jr. fighting Berto. Both outcomes are predictable, and the hype artificial. While Garcia jump started his career via his TKO of Amir Khan, he hasn’t demonstrated any impressive knockout ability since then.
It is likely that if that fight comes together, people will come, and fans will pay. While some fights are worth the money to see a good competitive fight, customers will also pay to see a brutal mismatch against a very destructive powerhouse. Having said all that, it is doubtful that camp Garcia will make such an irrational decision as to agree to fight Pacquiao.
Aside from Garcia, Roach suggested that a bout against his former pupil Amir Khan in Dubai would be great, but as of now there is nothing being seriously discussed: “I’d definitely be interested in the fight. They’re two fast guys, they have history as they’ve trained together, sparred a few rounds together and it’s a good fight for both guys. The thing about those guys from Dubai, they talk like they have a lot of money but they never put it up, so I’m not really concerned with that at this point. How many years have we heard there’s going to be a big fight in Dubai? Way, way too many,” said Roach.
There has to be something else, some other roadblock involved in this fight being taken to the next level. The fight could be held in Las Vegas or the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas, both of which would generate great profits.
Of course the name Mayweather Jr. had to come up during the interview, with Roach suggesting that Pacquiao paired with a healthy shoulder could definitely defeat Mayweather Jr. in a rematch: “Manny would do much better in a rematch, if the shoulder gets better. We were doing well until the shoulder went in the fourth round and we had a tough time after that. I do think we can beat Mayweather 100%.”
