By Edward Chaykovsky

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is convinced Manny Pacquiao will score a knockout victory when he faces Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a mega-fight for the WBO/WBA/WBC welterweight titles on May 2nd from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fight has been in the making since 2009. Roach predicted a knockout victory back then and he still believes Pacquiao will pull off the same ending.

“We do have a good game-plan going down; I do think he will knock this guy out.  Because again, he’s really motivated and again, I don’t think he likes this guy and this is the first time in my life I’ve really come across that," Roach told The Jim Rome Show.

Pacquiao has not scored a knockout since the fall of 2009. Roach claims Pacquiao has never had bad feelings about any opponent in the past - until now.

“The thing is the religion has taken away the killer instinct a bit over the years and I will agree with that somewhat… Jim, for some reason, Manny Pacquiao, I’ve never seen him dislike an opponent in my life, but you know what, he doesn’t like this guy.  He won’t say anything bad about him, but he won’t say anything good about him either.  I think this is a perfect opponent,” Roach said.