By Radio Rahim

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is completely on board with Bob Arum's idea for 2017 - to make a dream fight between Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38KOs) vs. Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4KOs).

As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, Arum - who promotes both fighters under the Top Rank banner - believes that match can be done at a catch-weight between lightweight and junior welterweight. Arum believes Pacquiao could get down as low as the lightweight limit of 135 if he wanted to.

Pacquiao, currently fighting at 147-pounds, will challenge WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas on November 5th at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Three weeks later, also in Las Vegas, Lomachenko will defend his WBO super featherweight title against Nicholas Walters at the Cosmopolitan.

"What fight would I want to see Manny in? I would pay any amount of money to see Manny fight Lomachenko. That for me would be a great, great fight.

They could fight anywhere from 135 to 140 pounds. Manny could make 135 easy. I never asked about fighting Lomachenko, but ask me about a fight that I would want to see - him against Crawford is also a good fight, but for me I love guys who are almost like ballet dancers in the ring, and Lomachenko is that and so is Manny," Arum said.

Roach agrees that Pacquiao can make the lightweight limit, but he would rather have that fight take place at the junior welterweight.

Lomachenko is already a two-division world champion in only seven pro fights. The two-time Olympic gold medal winner is regarded by a lot of experts as the greatest amateur fighter in the history of the game.

Roach is not that impressed with Lomachenko. He credits him with being a good, smart fighter - but he believes the Ukrainian talent might be getting a little overhyped.

"Yeah, [Pacquiao] can make 135, but I would rather him fight [Lomachenko] at 140. The thing is, Lomachenko.... I haven't really thought about that fight because the weights are too far apart I thought. I would love that fight. I would pat Bob on the back for that fight. I would yes to that fight. I don't think [Lomachenko] is that good. He's a good fighter, yes. I've seen him look terrible in fights when he first came over here," Roach said.

"I saw him train at my [Wild Card] gym for his first two fights and I saw him play more with the tennis balls than anything else. I told him you're going to need a lot more than tennis balls to beat Manny Pacquiao. His workouts are very unusual and I saw them over here for two fights. But everything has a purpose. He's a very smart fighter I think, but I think he's just too small for Manny Pacquiao."