Freddie Roach Wants Sergio's Crown for the Congressman

Today, Fightnews.com posted the following quote from a recent interview with the legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach, discussing Pacquiao’s next possible bout: “I’d like to see him fight [Sergio] Martinez right away,” Roach said Tuesday night during a media roundtable.

“[Floyd] Mayweather, with what he has going on in his life right now; I think he has to handle that before he can even talk about fighting. Sergio Martinez at the right weight I think can be the most exciting fight out there.”

This is something that most of us expected to hear sooner or later. Sergio’s tremendous stoppage of Paul Williams in November created a tunnel that could take Martinez to a mega-fight without any unnecessary stops in-between.

This was eagerly discussed in Las Vegas at the Sergio Martinez special press conference on the day of the Marquez/Katsidis fight, and Sergio dismissed it by saying, “With Pacquiao, there is nothing to talk about.”

Why did Sergio and his crew decide that fighting Manny is out of question? Do they think Martinez is simply too big for Manny? Does the weight difference prevent this fight from happening at a comfortable weight for both men or are they hoping to get an easier fight?

Throughout Sergio’s career, he fought as a solid light-middleweight and middleweight, where he can manipulate his body best.

Manny has recently fought at light-middleweight versus Antonio Margarito. He seemed to do better than most expected, and we can comfortably say that he is capable of fighting more opposition at that weight.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to say that Margarito’s stationary style was a perfect fit for Manny.

Sergio fights a different fight: He has well developed lateral movement and is capable of moving back without jeopardizing his defensive or offensive maneuvering.

At what weight could they possibly fight, 150 lbs? I highly doubt that Martinez would want to go any lower than that; I also highly doubt that Roach will want to go above that same number.

So can 150 lbs work? Maybe.

Is this the fight you want to happen? Do you think that Manny has as chance at beating a well-prepared, prime and hungry natural light-middleweight?

Roach seem to think that Pacman can. I think not.

Sure, Pacquiao’s speed cannot be argued and his footwork is great, but Manny likes to trade. Can he stand and trade a few with Sergio?

No matter how I re-think this scenario, this turns out to be a very bad choice for Manny and Roach.

Question is, why does Roach want this fight?

As of now, it seems that Shane Mosley is the next man in line to face the congressman. While I think it would be a great fight, I simply don’t think that this is the fight that the majority of people want to see.

Hopefully, we can witness a good fight in the mid-2011, and close out before 2012 with the fight that we have been raving about, talking about, stressing about, complaining about, arguing about and waiting to see: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny "Congressman" Pacquiao.