Freddie Roach is known for his unreserved magniloquence other than his Hall of Fame training abilities.
For the 55-year-old, it has presented him with a return of love or hate from the boxing world, but vintage Freddie was at it again on Wednesday, dropping a bombshell on Manny Pacquiao’s shoulder injury which occurred leading up to the May 2 showdown between his fighter and Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao claimed that he injured his right shoulder three weeks before the fight, so instead of canceling the fight, the most lucrative of all-time, Pacquiao decided to rest.
On the evening of the fight, the pain was still significant enough that Pacquiao requested another shot of Toradol, but the commission denied him the medication because according to a document signed by Pacquiao, he checked the box where it said that he did not have a shoulder injury.
As a result, Pacquiao fought and later re-aggravated the injury during the fourth round; a round which he was dominating, and proceeded to throw a career-low 429 punches on the night in a unanimous decision loss.
From his Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, California, Roach informed Fight Hype that he was completely against Pacquiao fighting, but ultimately, his opinion was ostracized.
“I was one of the few that didn’t want that fight to happen with the shoulder injury,” Roach revealed. “The thing is, I got out-voted. It was a big fight.
“They said, ‘If you don’t let this fight happen now, it will never happen again. It’s big money.’ I don’t really care about the big money, but the thing is, I actually care about the fighter.”
April 9 is being billed, at the moment, as Pacquiao’s final fight, but Roach believes that the money involved in a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch is too immense for the two fighters to pass by.
“If Manny fights a good fighter, looks good, has no shoulder injury, I think Floyd Mayweather and him will go one more time. Too much money,” Roach said via Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times.
Furthermore, Roach is confident that Pacquiao will perform better in a rematch.
“I think Manny can do much better against him. Manny watched the fight with Bob Arum, and they both came to the conclusion that they won the fight.
“A lot of fans came up to me at the airport the next day and told me we got robbed. I didn’t really think so myself, but a lot of people saw that fight differently than I did,” Roach candidly stated.
While there is no doubt the money in a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch would be unprecedented, just how much money is going to convince Mayweather to come out of retirement?
What about the fans? Will they be willing to pay top dollar for pay-per-view and will as many people be inclined to buy tickets as they were in May?
We shall wait and see.
– Ryan O’Hara @OHaraSports
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