Roach: Pacquiao Will Have FOTY Wrapped Up After This One!

Trouble, oh Keith’s got trouble, right here in sin city!  With a capital “T” and that rhymes with “D” and that stands for demolished!  World-famous Freddie Roach, half Hall of Fame trainer and half Professor Harold Hill, was in a lyrical mood on Wednesday after watching boxer laureate Senator Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) go through a light workout before heading over to the final press conference. 

The amazin’ Manny, 40, boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the reigning Fighter of the Decade, is just two days away from challenging undefeated WBA welterweight super world champion ketchup king Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs), from Clearwater, Florida. 

The Pacquiao – Thurman welterweight world title attraction headlines a PBC on FOX Sports Pay-Per-View event, live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, this Saturday, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

“Thurman is ten years younger than Manny and Manny is the one who has been more active.  This will be Manny’s third world title fight in 12 months!  The pressure is all on Thurman to perform.  I think he will make a show of it early and come after Manny.  That’s when reality will set it,” said Roach. 

“Thurman will try to keep up with Manny’s pace and that’s when ‘One Time’ finds out what it’s like to fight All Time.  Thurman will then be faced with an unenviable choice.  Does he run away from an old man like Broner, or get pushed around the ring by an old man, like Matthysse?  Manny will have the Fighter of the Year award wrapped up after this one.”