Pacquiao gunning for KO, says Roach

Credit
Roy Luarca
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines -- Knockdowns won’t do this time. Manny Pacquiao intends to knock out Juan Manuel Marquez in their rematch on March 15 in Las Vegas.

World-renowned trainer Freddie Roach revealed the plan to Brad Cooney of Boxingtalk Tuesday. “We are going for the knockout. We have all intentions of knocking him (Marquez) out,” Roach said.

In their first encounter in May 2004, Pacquiao felled Marquez three times in the first round only to allow the Mexican to recover and forge a controversial draw. Now, the Filipino ring icon is bent on finishing him off.

“If Manny gets Marquez down this time, he’ll keep him down,” said Roach, who’s whipping Pacquiao into tiptop shape for Pacquiao-Marquez II at his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.

According to Roach, he hasn’t seen Pacquiao so focused and so excited since the first time he fought Marco Antonio (Barrera) in 2003.

“He’s looking very good,” said Roach. “We had nine rounds of sparring on Saturday, and we used three sparring partners. I have a strong guy to press Manny, I got a counter puncher, and I got a guy that will run, all to give Manny different looks. We know the keys to victory, and we’ll show you what they are on fight night.”

Roach said he expects Marquez to again fight with a counter punching style though he doubts whether it will still be as effective.

“The best fight that I ever seen Marquez in was against Pacquiao, and he’ll need to fight like that again,” added Roach, who sees no problem with Pacquiao’s weight which was 139 lbs last week.

“We need to lose nine lbs with a month to go, so no problem at all,” said Roach. “He’s eating good, he’s running good, his discipline is good. Manny is very focused, so don’t worry, we are not going to wait for the last minute to make weight, that’s for sure.”

Scrambling to make 130 lbs in his rematch against Marco Antonio Barrera last October, Pacquiao wasn’t able to win by knockout and had to settle for a unanimous decision verdict.

This time, Roach assures: “We are going to fight a smart fight. We are going for the knockout.”