Freddie Roach Prefers Mayweather, Jr. for Pacquiao's Next Fight

On the eve of the Cotto-Clottey fight at the Madison Square Garden, BWAA trainer of the year Freddie Roach expressed his preference to a Pacquiao-Mayweather match scheduled for October this year even as Bob Arum leans toward a Pacquiao-Cotto fight.

Freddie Roach expressed preference for Floyd Mayweather as Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent in this year’s most anticipated boxing fight. Speaking from the BWAA awards night in New York, Freddie Roach said, ‘There’s only one fighter I’ll fight at 147, and that’s the easiest fright for Many Paquiao – Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Some speculators believe that the winner in the Cotto-Clottey match scheduled for today at the Madison Square garden could be a potential opponent of the pound-for- king. Roach said in an interview published by USA Today that these two guys are just too heavy for his favorite ward but added that Pacquiao may do it at 147 with Mayweather. USA Today reports:

Despite not owning a major belt, Pacquiao is the junior welterweight champion (140) by virtue of his second-round knockout of Ricky Hatton in May. The Filipino, who was in commute from the Philippines and not available early Friday, has only had one fight at 147. That was an eight-round destruction of Oscar De La Hoya, which sent him into retirement, in December.

Floyd Mayweather is scheduled to fight Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 after a 19-month layoff. He retired from professional boxing after beating Ricky Hatton of England almost two years ago. He was undefeated at the time of his retirement. Pacquiao wants to fight again in November of December, and he'll accept whatever is the best deal from Cotto and Mosley, provided they come down to meet at a catch weight, or Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs), Roach said in the interview. Roach said Cotto won’t fight below 147. At least four top boxers are lining up for a chance to face Pacquiao late this year. They include Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather. Roach insists that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is the best fight for Pacquiao which is scheduled for October 17. 2009. Earlier Shane Mosley mounted a publicity blitz to catch Pacquiao’s attention by offering to fight the pound-for-found king a 60-40 sharing of the purse in favor of Pacquiao. Mosley even offered to go down in weight to entice Pacquiao. The Filipino boxing superstar remains non-committal to the offer and advised Mosley to wait. Apparently, Pacquiao is waiting for the fight outcome of the Mayweather-Marquez fight which is scheduled for July 18 in Las Vegas and the Cotto-Mosley encounter scheduled for today at the Madison Square Garden. Winners of these matches will stand a good chance of sealing a contract with the pound-for-pound king and ‘Boxer of the Year’ celebrity. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is leaning on a Pacquiao-Cotto match up while Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s favorite trainer wants a date with Mayweather for the much anticipated October fight.