Roach Talks Pacquiao/Steroids, Mayweather/Weight, More

On Wednesday night in New York, BoxingScene.com traveled down to BB King's Blues Club & Grill in the heart of Times Square, and sat down with Freddie Roach in the dressing room of Guillermo Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner. To the surprise of many, Roach flew in to New York to work the corner of his newest pupil, Rigondeaux of Cuba. Roach predicted big things for Manny Pacquiao. They happened. He predicted big things for Amir Khan. They happened. Roach predicts big things for Rigondeaux. In a year or two, Roach thinks his fighter will become a champion like Pacquiao and Khan.

Roach was more than willing to discuss the ongoing negotiations for Pacquiao's March 13 super-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. He cleared up a lot of the rumors and touched on several of the important issues that are hanging over the bout. The most important issue to Roach is the weight. He won't let Pacquiao "get abused" like Juan Manuel Marquez, who received $600,000 when Mayweather was unable to make the agreed catch-weight for their fight a few months ago. Roach and Pacquiao will not agree to any money, they will simply walk away.

"147 is the weight. They are fighting for Manny's title at 147. I'm tired of guys signing the contracts and not living by them. If he signs a contract at 147, that's the weight we are fighting at. We are fighting for the welterweight title. We are not fighting at super welterweight. We agreed to 8oz Reyes gloves, for us. He wore Reyes in his last fight so I would assume that he would wear them again," Roach told BoxingScene.com.

The two sides agreed to Olympic-style drug testing. But Roach is not going to allow his fighter to be subjected to blood tests a few weeks before the fight. Roach was visibly upset when discussing the allegations that are being made by Floyd Mayweather Sr. In what has become a very hot topic of debate, Floyd Sr. has accused Pacquiao of using illegal drugs.

"Nevada is a great commission. They have drug testing that is sufficient. The issue I have is this, I will not let anyone take blood out of Manny Pacquiao six-weeks before a fight because that will mentally affect him. If they want a urine test or something else. Olympic-style drug testing, they do urine tests. I have no problem with that," Roach said.

"Mayweather Sr, did he even finish high school? He's an expert on drugs now. He went to jail for drug dealing but he's not an expert on drugs."

Roach usually has some wild predictions when it comes to a Manny Pacquiao fight. Sometimes those predictions come true. When it comes to Mayweather, Roach is realistic. He doesn't see Pacquiao knocking Mayweather out. He doesn't see an easy fight.

"I think it's going to be a tough fight for both guys. I think Pacquiao will win a twelve round decision. I think we have our work cut for us. The last four or five fights, we fought guys who come for you and try to destroy you. Now we are fighting the complete opposite. A guy who moves away, very defensive. We are going to set traps. We are going to stay away from Mayweather's traps because he's very smart. It's a very tactical fight," Roach said.

"That's why I want to start camp early. A month in Baguio, a month in LA and then the final week in Vegas. [We will start] as soon as the press conference is over. Bob [Arum] tells me there will be one press conference in New York. As soon as that's over, we will get started around the 5th or 6th [of January]."

The venue has not been set. The MGM Grand in Las Vegas and Texas' Cowboys Stadium are both in the running. Roach doesn't see the fight heading anywhere but Vegas.

"I think it's a Vegas fight. I don't think Mayweather will fight in Texas. Texas has been known for bad decisions, as some people have said. I love Texas. That's where we beat [Marco Antonio] Barrera, so I have no problem with it. I don't see Mayweather fighting anywhere but Vegas," Roach said. "Vegas has had some bad decisions too. It's part of boxing. I think the referee is real important in this fight."

In the past few days, there have been some heated comments between Roach and Floyd's trainer/uncle Roger Mayweather. Roach actually challenged Roger to a steet fight over some comments that Roger made about hall-of-fame trainer Eddie Futch, who was a mentor and father figure to Freddie.

"Roger is an @sshole. I hate that son of a b*tch. He talks bad about my trainer Mr. Futch and he downgrades a person who can't defend himself. He's a piece of sh*t," Roach said.

Roach couldn't hold back his laughter when discussing the critics who claim Pacquiao has avoided top-level African American opponents.

"Well, we're about to fight one so we'll see. The best guys out there we've fought, without prejudice. Manny Pacquiao loves God and loves every person in the world," Roach said.

Soource: boxingscene.com