Freddie Roach Names Floyd Mayweather 'King of This Era' over Manny Pacquiao

Freddie Roach has conceded that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the best fighter of his era because he retired with an undefeated 49-0 record.

The long-term trainer of Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather's principal rival during his career, Roach has often been critical in the past of Money's defensive, "boring" style, per Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated.

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The 55-year-old has now admitted that Mayweather's record—which compares favourably to Pacquiao's 56-6-2 career statistics—makes him the "king" of the current era, per Boxing Scene's Carlos Boogs:

"

Manny had eight world titles and a lot of great opponents and so forth. Mayweather had the same, had a great career and [was] undefeated, so I guess we're going to have to give it to Mayweather—but Manny was a lot more exciting for the fans. Mayweather had no losses and so forth, so he's probably the king of this era.

"

Having never faced each other during their respective peaks, Mayweather and Pacquiao finally clashed in May, and the American came out on top with a unanimous-decision victory.

He went on to close out his career out with a routine, underwhelming victory over Andre Berto back in September.

Pac-Man has not fought since he lost to Mayweather on May 2, as he has been recovering from a shoulder injury that he partially blamed for his defeat in Las Vegas.

However, the eight-division champion is set for one final fight on April 9 before he retires from boxing, per ESPN's Dan Rafael.

Amir Khan was previously thought to be the most likely final opponent for the 36-year-old Filipino, but the British fighter could reportedly be making other arrangements for the new year, per the Telegraph:

Per Nick Giongco of World Boxing News, Terence Crawford and Tim Bradley have also been mooted as potential opponents, but Pacquiao is seemingly in no rush to name a foe.

The Mayweather fight was the key one, and had Pac-Man beaten the American, then Roach would undoubtedly have labelled Pacquiao as the best fighter of his era.

Having lost to Money, though, it hardly matters who he defeats in his final fight, he will always be in the shadow of Mayweather when it comes to records.

That is not to say he will not go down as perhaps the most exciting, most interesting boxer of this era.