By Rick Reeno
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach was pleased with Manny Pacquiao's level of aggression on Saturday night, when the Filipino star won a twelve round unanimous decision over Timothy Bradley to recapture he WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
One the main storylines in the pre-fight promotion to Saturday's rematch, was Pacquiao's display of in-ring compassion. Both Roach and Bradley agreed that Pacquiao had let his opponents off the hook in several recent fights where he could have possibly scored a knockout.
There were no complaints from Roach over Pacquiao's desire to do serious damage. However, Roach did express some concern over Pacquiao's decrease in speed.
"I thought he had the killer instinct. He would open up when he got him against the ropes. I thought he opened up pretty well. He was a little bit slower than I've seen in the past. I don't really know why, because when he was in the dressing room working out he was on fire [but] maybe Bradley had something to do with [Pacquiao being slower]," Roach said.
"I don't think he showed any compassion. He was throwing combinations. Sometimes he stayed in the pocket too long, he wanted to fight a little bit too much. I kept telling him that 'all you have to do is outbox this guy, that you can go in and out, in and out all night long.' But he wanted to stay in the pocket and he wanted to fight him."
