Roach is convinced Pacquiao will knock out Bradley on April 9 to regain his WBO welterweight title. The Hall of Fame trainer also believes Pacquiao will graduate from being a congressman to a senator after the May 9 elections in the Philippines.
In a recent interview by Jenna J on OTR boxing, Roach said he doesn’t believe the April 9 bout will be Pacquiao’s last fight.
“Bradley will be a good test for Manny even though everyone tells me it’s his last pro fight and so forth, even Manny tells me that but I don’t really believe it. If Manny ever becomes the senator of his country, he will be so happy to be a senator defending his title,” said Roach, who is joining Pacquiao on Valentine’s day in GenSan to commence formal training for the Bradley fight on April 9.
“I hope that this isn’t Manny’s last fight — depending on how he does on the fight of course. I think he will dominate the fight, and it’s the first time in a long time that he told me he wants to knock his opponent out, so that’s good news for me,” Roach added.
Roach is elated that this time it was Pacquiao who told him that he will go for a KO win when he squares off with Bradley at the new T-Mobile Arena of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Roach is confident of another victory for Pacquiao, saying Bradley’s new trainer Teddy Atlas won’t matter because he can’t change Bradley overnight.
“We are not scared of Teddy Atlas, he will bring nothing to the table, Bradley is Bradley,” said Roach, who maintains that Bradley’s fighting style would still be the same despite Atlas’ presence in his corner.
Roach looks forward to a shorter training period in GenSan but if it drags on because of Pacquiao’s election-related activities, he is prepared to bring in tough sparring partners at the GenSan gym for early sparring sessions.