Manila Standard Digital
By Ponciano “John” Melo
CALIFORNIA, USA — After murmurs of a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao 2 became deafening in recent days, legendary coach Freddie Roach might have doused cold water on the embers of that thought as he bared the names of the fighters Manny could go up against.
It could be Errol Spence Jr. or Danny Garcia opposite the fighting Senator from the Philippines inside the squared circle when he gets inside the ring for the 72nd time February of next year.
That is if the widely-regarded best trainer of all time would have his way in his ward’s next opponent.
“Regardless of who they pick, he’s going to be ready,” said Roach.
“I just hope they pick Errol Spence or someone good. He’ll be back I believe in February. They’re talking about that, but I’m not sure how close they are at getting it. Danny Garcia looks like a good fight,” he added as he’s still in the dark as to who exactly Pacquiao will fight early next year.
Pacquiao, who blemished the undefeated record of trash-talking Keith “One Time” Thurman back in July after a unanimous decision victory over the younger American.
Talks have been growing among the boxing world that Pacquiao could fight Spence, but after topping Shawn Porter recently, the undefeated champion was involved in a car accident.
Fortunately, Spence escaped without any serious injury after the crash, though his camp will most likely not take any chances with his health and force a match with the only 8-division world champion in a few month’s time.
Meanwhile, Roach also says that Mikey Garcia could be a possible candidate for Pacquiao’s next fight, but the young boxer needs to earn his spot if he wants a shot at the 40-year-old boxing icon.
“He’s a solid fighter. Mikey Garcia, but he lost so badly in his last fight,” said Roach.
“People aren’t interested in that so much. For him [Mikey] to get that fight, he has to get a credible win. There’s a lot of good guys for him to fight. I like challenges,” Roach added.