Manny Pacquiao Should Fight Lomachenko, Not Terrence Crawford, Freddie Roach Says
Will Manny Pacquiao fight top boxer Terrence Crawford or Vasyl Lomachenko next? Freddie Roach believes one of those options is more suitable at this point in his client’s career. The well-known trainer for “Pac-Man” during his career has weighed in again with new comments regarding who he’d want his client to fight and when. Trainer Freddie Roach’s latest remarks come on the eve of a boxing match in Brooklyn, New York, involving Errol Spence, Jr. and Lamont Peterson. Here’s the latest on what Roach had to say about Manny Pacquiao’s next fight and the bout he may participate in following that.
On Friday, the Boxing Scene website posted a video interview where they fielded some comments from Freddie Roach about Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent. The speculation of Pac-Man wanting a fight against Lomachenko in April was brought up to Roach, who said he’s also heard some talk of Terrence Crawford vs. Pacquiao. Roach replied that he basically believes Pacquiao will need a tune-up fight to prepare for a matchup with Lomachenko. He also threw some water on the heated rumors of a Pacquiao vs. Crawford boxing match being on the schedule in the future, since promoter Bob Arum has been pushing for it.
Roach commented about the Pacquiao vs. Lomchenko bout.
“I love the Lomachenko fight..I’ve been hearing so much about Terrence Crawford lately and Terrance might be a little too young and too big at this point but the other way, I like that fight for Manny. All we need is one tune-up fight and we’ll go into the fight with no problem.”
So, who might Crawford take on? When asked about a potential fight involving Crawford vs. Spence, Roach seemed eager for that matchup to go down in the future.
“I would love to see those two in the ring because I’m debating who’s the best pound for pound fighter in the world right now and I think it’s one of those two…I would love to see that.”
The latest comments with regards to Manny Pacquaio against Crawford seem to echo remarks he made previously, where he said he was concerned about promoter Bob Arum pushing for the Crawford fight. With that said, Vasyl Lomachenko is no easy opponent either, as he’s been ranked the top overall boxer on various websites, including ESPN.
Roach’s comments in the interviews certainly make sense, as Manny Pacquiao hasn’t fought since July 2, 2017, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Jeff Horn, to give up the WBO welterweight title. With his recent political work in the Philippines, Pacquiao will want plenty of time to prepare for an opponent of the magnitude of Lomachenko, who is 10-1 so far in his young career, and a win over Lomachenko could be enough to encourage Pac-Man to try to take down Crawford in the future.
