Freddie Roach is confident that Manny Pacquiao will win big time in his upcoming World Boxing Organization welterweight title showdown against Chris Algieri at the Venetian Resort in Macau, China.
Roach said in an interview with The Philippines Star that he is expecting a knockout victory for Pacquiao despite the fact that the Filipino boxing icon has failed to knock an opponent out since his stoppage win against Miguel Cotto during their showdown in 2009.
The Hall of Fame trainer pointed out that moving up to the welterweight division or even the light middleweight division affected Pacquiao's punching power, but he believes that the former pound-for-pound king will be more effective against Algieri because the fight has a catch weight of 144 pounds.
"I would love to see a knockout. The thing is, I think, you know, at '47, maybe he's a little bit smaller than most of the '47-pounders out there. We have to feed him five times a day to make that weight," Roach said. "This fight's at '44. I think his punching power will come back and I see a knockout coming for sure."
Pacquiao will give up at least four inches in height in his title defense against Algieri, but Roach is not concerned about the height disparity, saying that Pacquiao has been handling his bigger sparring partners very well.
"Well, you know, we added some big sparring partners," Roach said. "Mike Jones is really a big, good puncher and so forth, and Manny is doing really well with him. He's hit him with some good shots here. He's hurt him a couple times in training camp already."
The veteran boxing trainer also pointed out that Pacquiao is very focused in training camp, adding that he is pushing Pacquiao not to take his sparring sessions lightly and the reigning welterweight champion is responding by displaying his punching power and intensity.
"He's showing good power so far and he's showing the intensity that I want," Roach added. "When he hurts somebody, then he opens up on them and finishes them. I told him if we get rid of a sparring partner, we just get another one. So training camp is going really well."
