Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, believes his client would be able to win a future fight against Vasyl Lomachenko, on one condition. As fans know, Manny Pacquiao is no spring chicken in the squared circle anymore, having lost his last fight to Joe Horn this past year. Taking on a younger fighter who is at the top of the sport would be a challenge. However, Roach recently spoke about what it would take for “Pac-Man” to defeat the world’s top-ranked boxer on various sites, indicating his client needs to make a major career move.
While there is currently no scheduled fight for Manny Pacquiao, a bout with Lomachenko seems unfathomable in the early half of 2018, based on Pacquiao’s work schedule and fight conditioning. However, as the PhilStar Sports Hub reported on Thursday, boxing trainer Freddie Roach made recent comments to suggest that Lomachenko is “beatable” if Pacquiao forgets about his other job for a bit. That other job just so happens to be working as a senator in the Philippines.
Roach believes his client would need to go into training full time and really dedicate himself to getting ready. If Pacquiao does that, Roach thinks Pacquiao would ultimately win, using his strategies and techniques of course.
Roach was quoted as follows.
“You’ve got to concentrate and be really, really prepared for this fight and you have to be aggressive in this fight because [Lomachenko] does have great footwork but if you press him hard enough and so forth. You take that game away from him and he’s beatable.”
As mentioned, there have been no plans or discussions as far as a Manny Pacquiao vs. Vasyl Lomachenko bout being put together anytime soon. The main hangup has been Lomachenko would need to change weight classes to take a fight with Pacquiao and at this point in his young career, he’d prefer taking on younger, up-and-coming opponents to establish his boxing resume.
Some are already calling Lomachenko the “next Muhammad Ali.” Meanwhile, Pacquiao is on the downside of his career, while another man who defeated him, Floyd Mayweather Jr., recently retired at age 40 with an undefeated record.
In boxing, just like many other sports, there seems to be a “never say never” motto in terms of when a competitor might decide to compete. For 39-year-old Manny Pacquiao, focusing on politics for the future seems like his best bet at the moment, rather than trying to take on a superior competitor. However, if the money’s there, and Lomachenko’s camp is willing to get their client to the right weight, fans may see that fight, albeit much further down the road.