By Rick Reeno
Trainer Freddie Roach has yet to watch last Saturday's junior welterweight bout between Juan Manuel Marquez and Likar Ramos - but he's heard a lot about it - and none of feedback has been positive. Marquez stopped Ramos in the first round with a single punch, which didn't appear to land that flush. Questions have been raised as to whether or not Ramos took a dive and simply arrived that night to collect an easy paycheck. Ramos had a delayed reaction to the punch and once he hit the floor he was laid out, eyes closed and motionless, for several minutes.
On November 12 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Marquez will challenge Roach's star fighter, Manny Pacquiao, for a third time.
"I didn't get a chance to watch it. I was wondering why they would take a risk with a tuneup fight, when they have Manny [scheduled], but I guess they didn't [take a risk]," Roach told BoxingScene.com as he laughed. "I heard some people say that even in the short time of that fight, [Marquez] didn't look that great. But, he will get ready for Manny and he will fight us and he won't go into a shell - like some other people have done in the past"
Because of the controversy surrounding their first two fights, which saw a draw in 2004 and split decision win for Pacquiao in the 2008 rematch, Roach believes his fighter needs to do everything possible to secure the victory with a knockout.
"100% [he needs a knockout victory]. I'm going to plead with him..'do your job and knock him out and don't let him off the hook,'" Roach said.