Roach wants Pacquiao, Mayweather to decide soon
Time is running out for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather to book a May 2 showdown, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said Tuesday.
Amid a welter of reports in recent weeks that a deal for the much-anticipated bout was all but done, Roach warned that a decision would be needed soon if both fighters are to prepare adequately.
“We are getting really close,” Roach said of reaching a cut-off for declaring a May 2 fight a reality.
“I need eight weeks. That window is getting smaller and smaller.”
In fact, Roach said, he could make do with a slightly shorter training camp with Pacquiao, the eight-division world champion who said Monday in the Philippines that a deal was “near.”
On an eight-week schedule, the first fortnight would be core training and general conditioning, Roach said.
“The boxing would start six weeks out, because if you go more than six weeks with Manny you’ll burn him out because of his work ethic.”
Pacquiao is 57-5 with two draws and 38 knockouts, while Mayweather is 47-0 with 26 knockouts.
Fight fans around the world have clamored for years for a showdown between the boxers widely regarded as the best “pound-for-pound” fighters of their generation.
The Sunday Telegraph in Britain reported that the pair had agreed to a $250 million deal, although on Sunday night in New York, Mayweather said in a brief television interview during the NBA All-Star Game that nothing had been signed by either party.
Last year, Mayweather used the occasion of his 37th birthday on February 24 to announce his opponent for a May 3 bout — plumping for Argentina’s Marcos Maidana and snubbing England’s Amir Khan.
A similar birthday announcement by Mayweather would make for a nine-week lead time to a May 2 fight.
Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum last month ignited buzz over the fight when he said negotiations had been “narrowed down to extraordinarily small points.”
On Tuesday, however, Arum took himself out of the prophecy business.
