Freddie Roach is still itching to avenge Manny Pacquiao's knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, but the Hall of Fame trainer is also ready to go into a different direction in their next fight on November 22 in Macau.
In an interview with BoxingScene, Roach admitted that Marquez is still on top of their list of possible opponents, especially after the Mexican impressed in his win over Mike Alvarado, but the famed trainer revealed that talks about a fifth fight are not progressing.
"That's something I would like," Roach said on the proposed Pacquiao vs Marquez 5 fight. "I thought Marquez looked good in the [Alvarado] fight. He fought well. He looked a lot stronger than he did in his last fight but I don't hear any negotiations going on about that fight."
Roach added that Top Rank Promotions already asked him about alternative fights, and he did not hesitate to pick reigning World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia.
"They asked me who I'd want to fight next and I said well, I'd like to fight Danny Garcia," Roach said. "I think that'd be a great fight for Pacquiao. So they're throwing that at me. I don't know exactly what's going to happen but I think his next fight will be in China but opponent wise, we haven't locked anyone down yet."
Pacquiao vs Garcia showdown sounds intriguing, but one hurdle is the long-standing cold war between Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Garcia, and Top Rank Promotions, which promotes Pacquiao fights.
Previous reports indicated, though, that Oscar De La Hoya of GBP and Bob Arum of Top Rank have shown willingness to co-promote future fights and end their feud.
Roach stressed that GBP and Top Rank should end their war and co-promote big fights such as his proposed Pacquiao-Garcia showdown, which, according to the 54-year-old trainer, will make boxing the best sport again.
"It would bring back boxing to the best sport in the world," Roach said. "It's what we need and all this feud in between is all bullsh*t. Just negotiate the deal, I don't care. I'll make a deal with the devil if I have to. A good deal is a good deal. That's my outlook. Personalities shouldn't get involved in negotiations."
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