Celebrated Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach believes there is no way Brandon ?Bam Bam? Rios can beat eight division world champion and ?Fighter of the Decade? Manny Pacquiao when they face off in Macau on November 24.
Although he did speak of the possibility of a major upset which would drive Roach to tell Pacquiao to retire Roach told the South China Morning Post he doesn?t believe his prized fighter would lose his third fight in a row having previously dropped a hugely controversial split decision to Timothy Bradley and they suffering a stunning 6th round knockout against Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8 in Lass Vegas.
Boxingscene.com quoted Roach who is now in Singapore on another stop on their Top Rank road show to promote the Macau showdown who said ?if Manny were to get knocked out in November, I would tell him to quit."
However Roach told the South China Morning Post ?to put it bluntly, there's no way in the world Rios should beat him. None whatsoever. Rios is a banger, for sure, but he'll take his life in his hands if he wants to stand in front of Manny and trade punch for punch. But Manny has to show me more, too. Like he said, he has to win big. It has to be spectacular. He knows that."
Roach reiterated the fact that ?Manny?s work ethic is still the best, so I'm really looking forward to getting back to training camp. I'm his trainer, but I'm more his friend. I'm not going to let anything stand in the way of him having a tremendous performance in November."
Pacquiao and former world champion Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios did a commercial shoot Thursday in Singapore. Both fighters are currently on a world-wide media tour for their upcoming mega fight which will also include a stop in New York and finally ending up in Los Angeles.
Meantime Pacquiao?s adviser Michael Koncz told the Manila Standard from Singapore ?everything is going really great. Manny has received a fabulous reception from the people of Singapore.?
The Standard learned that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum who is also in Singapore is negotiating a possible fight of former WBO, Ring Magazine super bantamweight champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire who will move up to featherweight in his quest for a fifth world title, in Singapore.
Arum told us Donaire?s return to the ring following his loss to former Cuban two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux is tentatively set for November 9 but no opponent or venue has been finalized as yet.
Photo: Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach (L) and boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao in Macau July 27 presscon. Photo by Dong Secuya.
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