HIS unanimous decision win over Rocky Juarez may have put Juan Manuel Marquez at the top of the list of Manny Pacquiao’s opponents, but for Freddie Roach, he has another Juan and a David in mind—lightweight champions Juan and David Diaz.
Roach told Philboxing.com’s Brad Cooney that Pacquiao, whose last fight was a unanimous decision win over Marco Antonio Barrera, wants to move to the 135-pound division and take on IBF, WBA and WBO king, Juan.
Pacquiao’s former manager, Rod Nazario, also agrees with this move.
“Well, he (Marquez) seems to be the front runner, but Manny wants to move up to 135 pounds and challenge Juan and David Diaz. There are factors that need to be considered also,” Roach said in the interview posted at Philboxing.com.
Good business
Roach said if it makes good business to fight Marquez, then they might fight him adding that despite not holding a belt, Pacquiao should get the bigger purse in case of a rematch.
“We are the draw, not him (Marquez),” Roach said.
As to moving up to the next division, Roach said, “Well, I talked to Manny a few days ago, Manny said (to) take the fight that makes the most money, and the most sense. We aren’t ducking anybody. Juan is talking about how Manny fights old washed up fighters. Well, who has Juan beaten?”
After beating Julio Diaz to add the IBF title to his WBA and WBO belts, Juan (33-0, 17 KOs), through his promoter Don King, issued the challenge to Pacquiao, who they say is picking on and beating aging Mexican champions like Barrera and Erik Morales.
Sense
“Who has he fought? I will say this though, he is an up-and-coming fighter, and I give him a lot of credit. He might be more marketable than Marquez is at this point, so we’ll see…Everybody wants to fight Manny, he makes the most money. We need to see the numbers first before deciding on Juan. If it makes sense, we’ll move up and take his belt,” Roach said.
Meanwhile, Nazario said in another article at Philboxing.com that Pacquiao has outgrown the 130-pound division and it is time for him to move up.
“Manny had difficulty making the weight for his last fight against Barrera. Manny’s body isn’t what it was before. He’s turning 29, It’s not like he’s still 24 or 25.
Nazario said if Pacquiao wants a world title, he should move up and challenge Juan or David, the WBC champion.
“Either one will do. Both are easy to hit,” he said. (ML)
