By Francisco Guzman
Trainer Freddie Roach would have preferred a different path for eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38KOs). On December 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Pacquiao will face WBO junior welterweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39KOs) for a fourth time. HBO pay-per-view will carry the event.
Roach would have liked two other opponents for Pacquiao. The first on his list was the obvious choice, Floyd Mayweather Jr. The second choice was WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley, who won a controversial twelve round split decision over Pacquiao in June.
Roach sees Marquez as a much tougher opponent than Bradley.
"[I wanted Pacquiao to face] someone else. To me [Marquez] was the third [choice]. I'd like to get that Bradley [rematch] out of the way and redeem ourselves there and all we need to go is get two new judges," Roach
Roach, however, admits the fight with Marquez makes a lot more business sense because he feels Bradley doesn't bring anything to the table. Bradley and his trainer, Joel Diaz, have complained about Pacquiao's lack of enthusiasm to have a rematch, but Roach says the reason the rematch is not happening is because Bradley is not capable of generating business.
"This does [make more business sense]. Bradley sold six tickets last time and he'll sell less next time. That's about [the size] of his audience. That's why we are not fighting him, there's no business [in that fight]. There is no money in that fight," Roach said.
