Trainer Freddie Roach has offered up a $1000 bounty to any sparring partner who can knockdown Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao 62-7-2 (39) as he prepares to challenge WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr 27-0 (21) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 21.
“Manny doesn’t know that! I’ve always kept it a secret but every sparring partner I hire, I say, ‘You knock him down, I give you a thousand bucks’. And I’ve kept a thousand in my pocket,” Roach told The Sun.
The 42-year-old Pacquiao first met Roach at the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in 2001 when he was looking for a trainer for his late call-up fight against IBF super bantamweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba in Las Vegas. The South African titleholder was 31-1-1 (22) at the time and a short-priced favourite going into the fight. Pacquiao obliterated him six one-sided rounds. His relationship with Roach was born.
Since that night Pacquiao has continued to seek out the biggest names and the toughest challenges and it will be no different when he takes on 31-year-old Texan Spence, who is rated the number one boxer at 147-pounds by the esteemed Ring magazine.
“I am just so damn proud of Manny for picking Errol Spence for this fight. It’s a real fight and what a great example to set,” Roach said.
“You want respect? You want to establish a legacy? Look at what Manny and Spence will be doing on August 21. It’s the type of fight that returns boxing to the front page.”
The Spence fight will be the first time Pacquiao has stepped into the prize ring since scoring a split decision victory over previously undefeated American Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman 29-1 (22) to claim the WBA welterweight strap in Las Vegas in July 2019.
“Two years out of the ring allowed my body to rest. My energy stores are overflowing,” Pacquiao said.
“I am so grateful to God that I can still fight at this level against the best and to still have these opportunities at age 42. I am still amazed that I have won world titles in each decade, going back to the nineties.
“My fight with Errol Spence is not just a battle between the two best welterweights but between two of the best fighters. There is no ‘B-side’ in this fight. I have just as much to prove in this fight as Errol does.
“We are going to bring out the best in each other. It is the type of fight that makes boxing so great.”
Over the years the biggest problem for Pacquiao has been the size of the crowds he attracts wherever he goes, particularly at the gym.
“There’s a little more people in training camp. People love to see Manny Pacquiao and his entourage is getting a little bigger,” Roach said.
“But then the first day he noticed it was getting a little crowded in the gym, he said, ‘Freddie, can we get rid of some of these people’. I said, ‘Yeah, we can. These are all your people, throw them out!’ Manny cut them right in half, so training camp’s getting better as less people are watching.
“Manny draws a lot of people to this area and so forth but I had to hire security guards and uniformed police officers that have to watch the gate and keep his people away. Because it’s a pretty important fight for Manny and he’s doing really well, he’s fighting one of the best guys out there.”
