Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Pac-Man Has Secret Sparring Partner, Says Freddie Roach

Manny Pacquiao is preparing for his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. with a secret sparring partner that longtime trainer Freddie Roach apparently took from the opposing camp.

GMA News passed along comments from Roach, who didn't want to reveal the identity of the workout partner due to the uniqueness of the situation.

"I have a secret sparring partner. He doesn't want to get beat up or something like that because he's leaving Mayweather's camp," he said.

It's an interesting twist. Just last week, Dennis Gasgonia of ABS-CBN News reported on a situation where Roach had claimed Mayweather adviser Al Haymon was working behind the scenes to prevent Pac-Man from getting sparring partners.

"I'm hiring sparring partners, Al Haymon's people calls them up and offers more money for them not to come. [But] I'm not worried about those guys," Roach said. "We got four really good sparring partners for Manny for this fight, Mayweather look-alikes."

Ultimately, this could all be mind games more than anything else. There's little doubt both fighters will be as prepared as possible by the time May 2 rolls around.

Perhaps the biggest key for Pacquiao is figuring out how to utilize his quickness against Mayweather's terrific defensive capabilities. The undefeated American has rarely been under siege because he's able to thwart attacks with such ease.

Getting a workout partner directly from the opponent's camp could help find holes. But it's still going to come down to execution on fight night. Nobody will be able to completely replicate Mayweather's complete skill set in training.

At the very least, it appears Roach is going to keep things interesting throughout the build up.