Source: abs-cbnnews.com

-- Pacman to KO Floyd, he says

Everybody’s clamoring for a “megafight” between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

But for Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, the end result is already certain.

“We'll definitely knock Mayweather out. He'll break down. He can't stand up to Manny's pressure,” Roach told ESPN.com.

The boxing Hall-of-Famer said Pacquiao, the newly-crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champ, showed that he can take heavy punches even from a bigger man.

Pacquiao won his seventh world title from Cotto, a boxer many considered as the toughest and the strongest among the Filipino’s opponents.

“After seeing Manny with Cotto, Manny showed he takes a punch well,” said Roach.

He said Pacquiao may very well retire after “beating” Mayweather.

"I would love to see Manny knock this guy out and then retire," he said. "There's no place to go after that. We will break Mayweather down. He's a fragile guy. I know he is hard to get to but we will get to him. Manny can match Mayweather's speed and he has better footwork and more balls."

The ultimate opponent that 'won’t last long'

Roach sees Mayweather, the former pound-for-pound champion, as the “definitive” opponent for Pacquiao.

"He's the ultimate opponent. His style does pose some problems because he's very good at what he does,” he said. “But after seeing Manny with Cotto… He (Mayweather) won't last as long as Cotto.”

Roach, however, said Mayweather, who remains undefeated in 40 fights, seemed to be already pricing himself out of the megafight with Pacquiao.

"I got a feeling Mayweather doesn't really want to fight Manny. When he says he wants 65 percent [of the revenue], that's like saying he doesn't want to fight," he said.

Mayweather’s father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., said he sees no problem about his son facing Pacquiao, the current "Pound-for-Pound King."

"When he fights Floyd Mayweather Jr. you, he, we'll find out who's pound for pound [king]. If they sign the paper it will be on, that's all they have to do… Ain’t nothing else, when they get the paper the deal is done," he said.

Ready to face the Pacman, but…


For his part, Mayweather Jr. said he is ready to face the boxing dynamo from the Philippines.

"He is a good fighter, and if a fight presents itself in the future then absolutely we'll make it happen," he said.

However, he claimed that he won’t get anything from fighting Pacquiao.

"If I beat Manny Pacquiao you know what they are going to say? 'You are supposed to beat him, you are Floyd Mayweather, you are the bigger man.' If I knock him out they'll say, 'You're supposed to knock him out [because] he's been knocked out before.' I'm in a no-win situation and when I beat him no one is going to be surprised because he's been beaten before," he said.

Roach however is not buying the talk.

"Floyd can say what he wants, but I saw Floyd get almost beat by Oscar and when he fought [Jose Luis] Castillo for the first time," he said.

He referred to the lightweight title match between Castillo and Mayweather in 2002. Floyd won by points in what was considered as the toughest fight of his career.

The split

Just hours after Pacquiao's win over Cotto, Golden Boy Promotions has reportedly been given the green light to begin negotiations for a possible Pacquiao-Mayweather bout.

GBP CEO Richard Shaefer is reportedly planning to meet Top Rank chief Bob Arum next week to make the Mayweather fight.

Shaefer said the biggest hurdle to be solved is the revenue split between the two boxers.

"The big issue is the split because you know Pacquiao is not gonna do it unless it's 50-50 and you know Mayweather is not gonna do it as well so not do it at that kind of split."

But if negotiations push through and an agreement is made, Roach sees the fight will take place sometime in May or June.

Roach said Pacquiao will have to take plenty of rest after the physically demanding Cotto fight.

"May or June, in that ballpark," Roach said about when he thought the fight should happen. "March may be too close to get a big fight like that going. I'd like to see Manny take a rest and then get into it.”

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