By Mark Vester
Trainer Freddie Roach wants WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs) to close the show on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Pacquiao defends the title against former three division champion Shane Mosley (56-6-1, 39 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Roach told BoxingScene.com's Ryan Songalia that Pacquiao allowed Antonio Margarito to last the twelve round distance last November at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Pacquiao punished Margarito round after round but he appeared to take his foot off the gas in the last three rounds.
The veteran trainer considers Mosley a far more dangerous and well-rounded boxer than Margarito. He says Pacquiao cannot afford to let Mosley survive from round to round, because Shane has displayed knockout power even in the twelfth and final round. In his 2008 junior middleweight clash with Ricardo Mayorga, Mosley scored a knockout with only ten seconds left in the twelfth round.
"We have to expect the best from him," said Roach. "He's going to be the best he can be. We're not gonna get caught taking him easy. He has a good right hand and sometimes we get hit with that shot, it's something we have to work on for this camp. But Mosley's not the hardest guy in the world to hit at this point, either."
"I do want Manny to stop this guy because he let Margarito off the hook last time. He was too compassionate, and you just can't do that. We’re not going to take it easy on him because he’s older.”
