Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame trainer of Manny Pacquiao, appears already tired of waiting for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to accept their challenge for a pound-for-pound showdown that he's now endorsing Jr. Welterweight kingpin Danny Garcia as the next opponent for the Filipino fighting congressman.
"My first choice for Manny's next fight is Danny Garcia," Roach said in an interview with Boxingscene.com. "I know it's out there. I would love to fight Garcia, it's a great fight for Manny at 140 or 147."
Garcia, who has been the gold standard of the 140-pound division in the last 2-3 years, has been trying to arrange a big fight either against Mayweather Jr. or Pacquiao. Fortunately for him, Roach seems really interested for his ward to take on the Philadelphia native.
Roach indicated there's a chance Pacquiao will fight for the remainder of his career as a 140-pound jr. welterweight fighter, believing the former pound-for-pound champ is much more comfortable in that weight limit.
"The thing is right now Manny is fighting at 144 for this fight. If he feels good at 144, we'll go to 140. If he doesn't then we'll go to 147. But Manny is a more natural 140 pounder. His walk around weight is 142," Roach said.
Since knocking out Miguel Cotto in 2009, Pacquiao hasn't scored a knockout victory in the welterweight division. Although the Filipino champ still dominated some of his opponents with sheer speed, it is clear that Pacquiao's power isn't enough to overwhelm bigger foes in the welterweight division.
As for Mayweather, Roach thinks the Grand Rapids native is not any longer as sharp as he used to be and believe Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto has already surpassed him in terms of skills.
"I think it's a better fight [Cotto vs. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez than Mayweather vs. Pacquiao]," Roach said via Boxing News 24. "I think Floyd's a little shot right now. I see that's why he won't fight Pacquiao. That's my opinion."
The 35-year old Pacquiao will defend his WBO Welterweight crown against Chris Algieri on Nov. 22 at Venetian Macao in Macau, China, while Mayweather will take on Marcos Maidana with the WBO and WBC Welterweight belts hanging in the balance.
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