MANILA, Philippines - It seems that Freddie Roach has given up on the fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Roach said Mayweather is so content and happy with that zero in his ring record that the undefeated American will never run out of reasons just to stay away from Pacquiao.
“He waits for Manny to sign a contract with someone else, so he won’t be pressured into fighting Pacquiao,” Roach told Mark Vester of boxingscene.com in a very recent interview.
Roach was asked if he thinks the fight will ever happen, and he said, “no.”
“He wants to keep the zero in his record so he can argue that he’s the best fighter in the world. So he can say that he’s better than Sugar Ray Robinson,” added the celebrated trainer.
Robinson, of course, is the legendary American fighter who figured in over 200 fights from 1940 until 1965. He went 40-0 before taking his first loss, and wound up with a record of 173 wins, 19 losses and six draws.
Robinson was the former welterweight and middleweight champion, and it was through his flamboyance and ring excellence that boxing writers had thought of handing out the pound for pound title.
Roach said Mayweather sees himself as better than Robinson. But he has to keep that zero.
“As long as he has that zero, he can make an argument. But once that zero is gone, the argument is over,” said Roach, who said even good boxers have taken losses even before they became great.
“A loss is part of life. A loss can make you better. Actually, it’s good to lose sometimes in our lives to improve ourselves, to get a wakeup call. In Floyd’s little mind, he’s content with that zero,” he said.
Roach said it’s quite hard to compare Mayweather with Robinson simply the latter fought everyone that was thrown at him.
And Mayweather?
“But when he compares himself to those type of guys, it doesn’t sit with me too well because he won’t even fight the best guys out there today. He actually ducked Margarito a couple of years ago also,” Roach said.
Pacquiao’s chief trainer said Mayweather was offered to fight Margarito twice in the past, and on both occassions the American ex-pound-for-pound champion found other ways to stay unbeaten.
“He was offered a lot of money to fight him twice and ducked him. He picks and chooses his opponents and if that’s what he’s going to be happy with.. so be it,” said Roach.
Mayweather has raised issues about the drug-testing procedure and has kept the superfight from happening.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, agreed to fight Margarito even if the Mexican is more than four inches taller.
Pacquiao also didn’t back off when offered to fight Oscar dela Hoya or other big guys like Miguel Cotto or Joshua Clottey. He said he’s ready to take on Mayweather, too, but the fight just won’t happen.
Freddie Roach knows why.
Source: http://www.philstar.com
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