Roach is set to fly to Manila by the last week of May but no specific date has been announced. If he isn’t in Pacquiao’s training camp in Manila by the end of the month he would only have four weeks to prepare Pacquiao for the Horn fight.
In Pacquiao’s previous fight following his loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in May 2015, Roach had spent considerable time with Pacquiao and he was rewarded with twin victories against Tim Bradley and Jessie Vargas. With his seemingly delayed arrival, it appears that he is indeed taking the upcoming Horn fight lightly.
Fresh from his trip to England to work the corner of former world champion Scott Quigg at the Wembley Stadium in London, Roach was quoted to have said that the upcoming Horn fight is more of a tune-up bout for Pacquiao. To some observers, his statement could mean he is indeed taking Horn lightly.
“[Horn is] a good fight to see where he’s at and who’s gonna be next. The thing is, it’s kind of a tune-up fight for us and who he has next… Mikey Garcia’s brother came to me the other day and said to me ‘will you fight my brother?’ I said ‘sure.’ I love that fight. I don’t make the final decisions, but it’s a possible future fight. That’s what we’re looking for right now, a tune-up fight and then on to bigger and better things,” Roach said to BoxingScene.com.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz also was quoted to have said right after the official fight announcement that it would be a quick fight for Pacquiao.
“Manny will train and do the best he can and hopefully we get the fight over with very quickly, we get out of there, we say hi to the Australian fans and media and come home,” said Koncz, who also seemed to be taking Horn lightly.
On the opening day of his official training schedule, Pacquiao opted to attend the senate opening session giving fans the impression that he may be taking Horn for granted. Over the weekend he left the camp to be with his family in an out of town trip south of Manila.
The seemingly relaxed atmosphere in the Pacquiao camp with regards to the training schedule indicates that Roach and his team are not worried about the Horn fight although Pacquiao has said while in Australia to promote the fight that he isn’t taking Horn for granted because he is unbeaten and is also a good boxer. Read more:
The Horn fight is first overseas bout for Pacquiao since Arum’s announcement saying the Filipino star won’t be fighting in the US for the remainder of his career unless a financially viable offer is made for him to resume fighting there.
