By James Slater: Manny Pacquiao must not only win, but win in commanding style against Timothy Bradley this Saturday night in Las Vegas. Trainer Freddie Roach, speaking to The Washington Post, made it clear enough: if his star pupil struggles and “looks bad” against the unbeaten Bradley, he will personally tell Pac-Man to retire from boxing.
Roach says Bradley, 28-0(12) is a good fighter, but no “killer.” The ace trainer says he feels Pacquiao should be able to “eat Bradley up as he comes forward,” and anything other than a dominant win – I/E a KO victory – will not be enough to please him and to make a statement to those critics who do feel as though the Filipino dynamo is on the slide.
“I think Manny should look really good in this fight,” Roach said. “If he looks bad, he retires. At least I’ll tell him to. And he may be the first one who will listen to me..”
Roach is well aware of the number of fighters, some of whom he has trained, who have been unable to listen and walk away when the time was right. The last thing Roach wants is for superstar Pacquiao to wind up like a James Toney or a Roy Jones Junior – two once-great fighters who continue looking for diminished paydays as they fight on with diminished skills.
And Pacquiao has a whole lot going on in his life. Having a schedule far more hectic than some experts say is good for a pro athlete – what with Pac-Man’s political commitments, his religious duties, his acting and his charity endeavours – Pacquiao may have a struggle focusing solely on Tim Bradley come Saturday night. If this is the case, and IF the Pound-for-Pound #1 (or #2, depending on your view; Ring Magazine currently has Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather tied for second place, with the top spot vacant) is slipping, it could be Bradley’s big night.
Roach believes his warrior will get the stoppage win, and Pacquiao may well do so. However, as has already been pointed out by a number of people, the June 9th fight marks the first time in some time that Pac-Man has faced a young, unbeaten and hungry challenger.
Who knows, we may be on the verge of seeing the final fight in the exciting career of one of the greatest fighter’s of the last half-century.