Freddie Roach: “I think Manny Pacquiao has better legs than Floyd Mayweather and I think that’s gonna be the difference in the fight”

One of the most anticipated fights in boxing history is getting closer and will soon only be a month away. With the fight nearing, the camps for both fighters are in full swing. Trainer Freddie Roach knows the challenge that lies in front of him and believes he has the secret weapon in his camp that could help give his fighter the edge.

In my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Freddie Roach, I get his thoughts on Mayweather-Pacquiao finally getting made and what are the differences in Mayweather and Pacquiao as they have gotten older. I also talk to Freddie about the sparring partners that he is using for the fight and if he got the ones he wanted. Additionally, I get Roach’s views on why Manny Pacquiao has not had a KO win since his bout with Miguel Cotto. He is what Freddie Roach had to say.

Jenna J: The fight we’ve all been talking about is finally going to happen, how do you feel about Mayweather vs. Pacquiao?

Freddie Roach: I’m actually really excited about the fight. When he finally announced the fight it put a big smile on my face. My fighter, Pacquiao, is on fire right now, he’s working really hard and everything’s going well. We started our sparring sessions and I’ve got like six really good young kids coming up as sparring partners.

I really don’t believe in getting older guys to be your sparring partners — guys who are just in front of you. I like getting young contenders, it helps them along the way and Manny will make some of them a better fighter by just the knowledge that they’ll get by being in the ring with him.

I’ve got a lot of young kids coming in and they’re all very good fighters, they all have very good records, most of them are undefeated. Usually we average about 150 rounds of sparring but for this fight, I’m going to shoot for about 90-100 because I don’t feel like we need the wars anymore like we used to, we need just more technique and more strategy for what Mayweather brings to the table.

Jenna J: At any point during these years did you ever get to a point where you thought this fight wasn’t going to happen? Did you every have it in your mind that this fight wouldn’t happen between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd?

Freddie Roach: A good friend told me, “Every fight that was supposed to happen, will happen some time, we just don’t know when.” He kept me kind of motivated with everything that happened and we actually made a little bit of a wager, so I lost a bet. Every time we had dinner once a week, he told me over and over again that this fight would happen some day. I’m so happy it’s here.

Jenna J: What is the biggest difference between a thirty six year old Manny Pacquiao and the Manny Pacquiao that you used to have in his late twenties and early thirties?

Freddie Roach: One thing about Manny is, his legs are very solid. Mayweather, if you watch his last two fights, he says he’s on the ropes because he wants to exchange and make the fans happy. I don’t believe that. I believe that he has to go to the ropes to rest a little bit because his legs are a little shot. That’s always the first thing to go with a fighter.

I remember well when my legs went out and Eddie (Futch) told me to retire and I said, “No” and I fought five more fights and lost four of them. When you’re legs tend to give out, it’s a really bad feeling and I see Mayweather with a little uncertainty.

I think Floyd’s legs are starting to go a little bit and if you watch Manny and his last fight with Algieri, he was on his toes for twelve rounds with Algieri the whole night. I think he has better legs than Mayweather and I think that’s gonna be the difference in the fight.

Jenna J: One of the subplots to this whole fight is not just the rematch between yourself and Floyd but also you against his father, Floyd Sr. You trained Pacquiao to a knockout win over Ricky Hatton who Floyd Sr. trained. Floyd has been very negative towards you the last five or six years, why is it that you think he has such distain for you?

Freddie Roach: I trained in the same gym with them. I’ve known Floyd since he was five years old, he grew up in the gym, he just learned how to fight on his own. He was born in the boxing gym.

Roger was in the gym some times and me and Roger sparred one time and he wasn’t a big puncher when he first came out, when he was 126lbs and I was 122lbs. We sparred four rounds and I don’t think I hit him once and I think he hit me a couple of times but he just ran all night long. The next day he asked me if I wanted to spar again and I said, “No, I already did my roadwork this morning.” He got mad at me and we’ve never been friends since.

There’s dislike between us, they’re not my favorite people but I like that the dad is in the corner and not Roger because the dad gets stutters and gets really excited and he really has trouble getting the information to his fighter out. I think it’s a plus for us and I think Roger is the better trainer because he’s been there longer, that’s just my opinion at this point.

Jenna J: Let’s talk about Manny Pacquiao. There’s been some talk that the sparring partners that Manny has, that some of them have been interfered with. Has that affected your preparation at all?

Freddie Roach: No, I got the guys that I wanted. We selected good young fighters, undefeated fighters. We got one kid from Finland, he’s 24-1. We got one kid from Chicago, he’s 8-0. We had one kid from Boston but he didn’t work out, he can’t make it so we guy a guy from St. Louis.

I brought some great young kids to box, I’ve got too many actually. I got six really good guys that all look like Mayweather and I have one that I’m gonna use in the last two weeks is one that used to work at Mayweather’s gym and was part of Mayweather’s camp. He does the style really well, he’s my secret weapon right now, he’s my secret weapon right now. He’s staying at my house, we talk about strategy all night long, we watch film all night long and he said that Mayweather had disrespected him and they kind of just threw him aside, so I took him on.

Jenna J: One thing people have said about Manny Pacquiao in recent years is that he hasn’t had the same power. He knocked down Chris Algieri six times but he hasn’t had a knockout since Miguel Cotto. Why do you think that is?

Freddie Roach: When he changed religion, there were a lot of things in his life that he thinks it helped him. He made himself a better person, but we lost a little bit of the killer instinct. I know that and we’re trying to get it back of course but the thing is, it looked better with the Algieri fight, he was a little bit more aggressive.

I like when he’s aggressive but in this fight, I’ve never seen Manny Pacquiao fight a fight that he didn’t like his opponent because he’s a great guy. I’ve never seen him dislike an opponent and you know what? For some reason he doesn’t like Mayweather and I like that a lot. I think that’s gonna motivate him and I’m not sure if the knockout will come but the thing is, the way he’s working, it looks very good.