By Edward Chaykovsky
Freddie Roach, head trainer of WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, believes his boxer's drought of knockout victories will soon come to an end.
On July 1, before an expected crowd of 55,000 people at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Pacquiao will defend his world title against undefeated 2012 Australian Olympian Jeff Horn (16-0-1, 11 KOs).
Pacquiao has not had a stoppage win since the fall of 2009, when he put away Miguel Cotto in the twelfth round. The fight took place at a catch-weight of 145-pounds. Cotto moved to 154 in his next bout.
Since the knockout of Cotto, Pacquiao has been unable to put away any of his opponents. Pacquiao dropped his last two opponents, but never came close to stopping them.
Pacquiao is not underestimating Horn. Roach reveals that his fighter is already training very hard for this bout.
"Manny hasn’t scored a knockout in a long time, and it’s time that changed. He is working his ass off for this fight and we will be keeping the world title. Manny doesn’t underestimate anyone. He knows upsets can happen in boxing and that Horn is a good puncher but we are prepared for anything. No fighter in the world has Manny’s work ethic. He runs for an hour in the morning and does 65 rounds of training in the gym every day," Roach siad.
"And he loves nothing more than entertaining big crowds. The bigger crowd the more he likes it. There might be 55,000 people in the (Suncorp) Stadium cheering for Horn but that will only encourage Manny to put on the best show he can. He will be the very best he can be for this fight because we know Jeff Horn will be at his best too.’’
"There are some big fights coming up for Manny in the near future,’’ Roach said, ``and Jeff Horn is just the kind of opponent Manny needs to prepare for those. We’re going for the knock out. Horn is a strong guy, a counterpuncher but we’re coming up with a game plan to make sure that Manny Pacquiao flies home still with that world title belt in his possession.’’
