By Rick Reeno
Freddie Roach, who trains former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs), would demand a rehydration clause for a potential fight with WBC middleweight champion Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (46-1-1, 32KOs).
Pacquiao is back in action on Saturday night, when he faces Tim Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) in a trilogy bout from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to Pacquiao, the upcoming contest will be the final fight of his professional career.
But, Roach is not convinced that his fighter will walk away for good. He anticipates an inevitable return to the ring, potentially in the fall.
Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, is interested in matching the Filipino star against Canelo - if Pacquiao decides to continue his career.
Roach is also interested in the fight and believes Pacquiao can win, but there are obvious conditions that he would require.
"We would have to cap him. We would have to cap how much weight he can gain the next day [after the weigh-in]," Roach said.
Roach is also the trainer for Miguel Cotto, who lost a twelve round decision to Canelo last November. The fight took place at 155-pounds. Roach complains that Canelo was a 'light heavyweight' when he entered the ring.
Canelo will defend his title against Amir Khan on May 7th. As previously reported, Roach wants to evaluate how well Khan performs against Canelo - and use that performance to solidify his position regarding the idea of Pacquiao fighting Canelo at a catch-weight of 155.
"Canelo, we will talk about it. I know he is big - Manny has always done good with big guys. I think Manny can outbox Canelo. It is a difficult fight I know. I think we get a look at Amir Khan and see how that goes a little bit and we will have maybe a better idea because Amir is like Manny - he is a good athlete. He is very athletic and very fast. I don't know if those pictures were Photoshopped or what but it looks like put on a lot of muscle. People tell me those aren't real pictures though," Roach told BoxingScene.com.
