By Miguel Rivera
According to Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame coach of Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs), the knockout loss against Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 did not bother him as much as the setback he suffered against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015.
Pacquiao is training under Roach and Buboy Fernandez, as he prepares for a scheduled defense of the WBA "regular" welterweight title against Adrien Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs).
The contest is scheduled for January 19th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, with Showtime Pay-Per-View carrying the bout.
At the same Las Vegas venue, in 2012, Pacquiao faced Marquez for the fourth time in their rivalry.
In the sixth round, Pacquiao appeared to be on the verge of securing a stoppage win - when Marquez, in the final seconds, clipped him with a perfect counter - and the Filipino star was knocked unconscious.
While there was always some talk of a fifth encounter, Marquez made a career decision to reject that option and eventually retired.
Roach admits that he was never the same fighter in aftermath of being stopped as a pro. He explained that Pacquiao, who suffered stoppage defeats in the early days of his career, saw the knockout loss as just another part of the sport.
"Manny Pacquiao knows that being knocked out is part of the sport and accepts it more than anyone else. It's part of the sport, unfortunately, things happen and that night things did not go our way," said Roach said to Eduard Cauich.
"We were a a punch away from getting the same result on the other side. If Manny had not lost his balance, he would not have been beaten that way. When they knocked me out the first time I was never the same, but Manny Pacquiao sees it as part of the sport and that's why I think he's so efficient in the sport."
