By Keith Idec
Manny Pacquiao and his promotional team have estimated that Pacquiao will fight three or four more times before the Filipino superstar retires from boxing to concentrate strictly on his political career.
If it were up to Freddie Roach, Pacquiao would fight just twice more before calling it a Hall-of-Fame career.
“I’d like to get Mayweather next, beat him and call it a day,” Roach said. “That’d be the icing on the cake. But that’s my own thoughts, not Manny’s. I’d like this fight [against Juan Manuel Marquez] and that fight, and be done. I don’t think there’s anything else to prove.”
Roach hopes Mayweather’s recent references to fighting Pacquiao are accurate signs the the undefeated five-division champion is finally ready to settle the raging pound-for-pound debate in the ring.
Mayweather’s adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, told espn.com last week that the WBC welterweight champion plans to fight May 5 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Pacquiao and Marquez will fight Saturday night. Ellerbe also said Mayweather instructed him, adviser Al Haymon and Golden Boy Promotions chief executive officer Richard Schaefer to make the biggest fight possible, which presumably means the long-awaited showdown with Pacquiao.
“It’s the fight I want,” Roach said. “I want to see that fight as badly as all of you. He’s a challenge and I love challenges.”
Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KOs) obviously must defeat Mexico’s Marquez (53-5-1, 39 KOs) in their third fight for the Mayweather fight to remain the biggest boxing can offer.
The ever-polite Pacquiao grew tired of discussing the possibility of facing Mayweather long ago. He repeated his stock answer when asked about it, yet seems comfortable with the thought of the fight never occurring, too.
“For me, I don’t really need that fight,” Pacquiao said. “If that fight happens, well, it’s good because that’s what the fans want. If that fight doesn’t happen, I’m also happy because I’m already satisfied with what I have done in boxing.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for the Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.
